Colleen Gleason - "Gardella Vampire Chronicles" Book - She talks about Buffy

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In a market that is full of vampires that are sexy, erotic, and heroic what made you want to write anti-vampire novels ?

The simple answer is : because I don’t find vampires sexy, erotic, or heroic. Which is why, when I realized that the market was hot for vampire novels, I immediately dismissed the idea of writing one. I just couldn’t imagine writing about a sympathetic vampire.

But then I got hooked on Buffy, and that gave me another perspective : the option of writing about vampires, but with them being the villains of the piece. And since that worked for me and my creative muse, we ran with it.

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.†

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Your book has been described as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Jane Austen, and I know that you are a Buffy fan. Do you agree with that comparison ?

Yes and no. On the very surface, yes, there are similarities : Victoria and Buffy are both young women at a very important stage of their lives — one is debuting into Society to find a husband, and the other is in high school, arguably one of the most formative and difficult social times of modern life - and they both find out they have another role to play, a responsibility that not only puts them in danger and turns their lives upside down, but also gives them power and abilities beyond anyone else in their sphere.

So, yes, there is a basic similarity.

However, there are many more differences. First, Victoria isn’t the reluctant hero that Buffy is. She actually embraces the chance to do and be someone different-whether that was something she yearned for deep inside, or whether the fact that she was Called and that prompted these feelings, we don’t know - but Victoria is willing to take on the role.

Another difference is that Victoria is not the only vampire hunter, or Venator, in her world - again, unlike Buffy, who has the whole world on her shoulders. (And much as I love Buffy, that was always something that sort of worried me. I mean, while she was stuck fighting all the demons and vampires coming out of the Hellmouth, who was protecting the rest of the world ? Like, my city ?)

Victoria’s powers are enhanced through a strength amulet, the vis bulla, and she can and does remove it, and Venators can refuse to wear it - or even to accept their Calling. Unlike Buffy, whose powers are part of her and cannot be shed - she has no choice, whereas Victoria does.

Also, in the mythology of the Gardella world, the vampires all have souls - they’re just warped and malevolent. And their history is unique - who they are and their hierarchy is all very different from that of Buffyverse.

So, while many of the elements of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles world will appeal to Buffy fans, once into the story, and especially as the books progress, the differences will become much more obvious and profound.†

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