Vampires and Corsets: An Interview with Colleen Gleason, Author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles - Page 2

I wanted to write the kind of vampire book that I would read - and that my mother, and some of my other friends who don’t read vampire novels as a rule, would enjoy. Plus there was the added benefit of people who do like vampire books usually also like the concept of Buffy and Van Helsing, and thus would hopefully be attracted to my stories as well.

And that’s come to pass, so I feel like I have an opportunity to grab two parts of the market.†

What do you think will appeal most to your readers about your books?

There are several things. First, the Gardella Vampire Chronicles aren’t just another vampire series. The premise that the vampires are the villains really does hold true throughout. There aren’t any tortured vampires, or ones with souls, or anything like that (at least, not as of yet!)

Another thing that’s unique about my books is that they’re set quite firmly in historical settings. The Rest Falls Away, which was released in January, is set in 1819 England, during High Season in London Society - with all of the balls and soirees and other such trappings (think Jane Austen or even Cinderella).

The second (Rises the Night [June 2007]) and third (The Bleeding Dusk [Feb 2008]) take place in 1820 Venice and Rome (with the same protagonist as in The Rest Falls Away)…and so the setting is expanded from a much more popular and familiar location to one that readers aren’t exposed to as often.

Another thing that I think appeals to my readers is that the books cross genres very well. It’s a historically set series, yet not off-putting to people who don’t usually read historicals because it has a modern feel to it due to the fact that the heroine is put in a unique position. In other words, she’s required to step outside her normal historical role because of who she is. Thus, there’s a more accessible connection for the reader who prefers contemporary-set books.

Nor is the book a bloody, gory, scary horror novel - even though there are vampires in it. There’s only one scene with a lot of blood, and we don’t actually see the violence - we only see the aftermath. Thus the reader who doesn’t like horror novels enjoys this chance to dip his or her toe into the same pool that King and Koontz, et al, swim in… but without having to dive in all the way.

And despite the fact that the book is marketed as a paranormal romance novel, it really isn’t technically a romance novel. There is most definitely a love story, and there are certainly romantic underpinnings, but the book doesn’t end — as romance novels are required to do by virtue of their genre — with one man and one woman in an implied happily-ever-after situation.

Article Author: Katie Trattner

Ms. Trattner works for a non-profit agency where she is thankful for any internet time she can squeeze into her day. In her free time she reads one of the thousands of books stacked in her tiny apartment.

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