Please welcome Colleen Gleason today.
She is the author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles and the new Regency Draculia Series.
I loved the Gardella series even though the vampires were the bad guys.
Now that Colleen's written a new series with the vampires as the good guys (mostly) I can't wait to read the new books. I already have The Vampire Voss on my Kindle thanks to NetGalley.com.
Q: Like your other series featuring vampires, The Gardella Chronicles, these books are set in Regency London, but is that where the similarity ends?
A: Pretty much. The Draculia books actually take place about fifteen years before the Gardellas do (in 1804), but society, fashion, culture and mores are still pretty much the same. We’re in the Regency era, and it shows.
The mythology of the vampires in the Regency Draculia series is different from the Gardellas, but there are some elements that are the same—namely the connection to Lucifer. And while there aren’t any Venators hunting down the Dracule, there is a vampire hunter named Chas.
However...the worlds aren’t completely separate. There are two characters from the Gardellas who make an appearance in the trilogy; one of whom appears in every single book. ;-)
Q: Tell us a little about The Draculia, what makes them different from other popular vampires in fiction today?
A: The men (and women) of the Dracule are invited personally by Lucifer to join his cabal of vampires—basically, they sell their souls to him. Each of them has a personal Asthenia, sort of an Achilles’ Heel, that weakens them when they are in the presence of that item. Like the vampires of legend who recoil at the sight or smell of garlic, or who are paralyzed by the presence of silver, the Dracule have a similar weakness. The difference is that each Dracule’s Asthenia is different: one might be susceptible to rubies, another might be weakened by a type of herb...etc.
Each of the Dracule are, however, by nature, powerful, wealthy, and sensual. After all, that’s their life: an eternal experience with all the power and money and women/men they could want. Hedonism to the extreme. What would you do if you could live forever, and had nothing to fear?
But for many of them...this life becomes not enough. And that’s where the stories come in.
Q: You seem to love the Regency Time period- what is it that draws you back to this point in history over and over to use as the settings for your books? Is it the lavish nature, the London setting or something else?
A: I do love the Regency, and I find it comfortable to go back to that time because I’m so familiar with it. I think readers, because they are so familiar with that time period (there are so many books set in that era) also can appreciate the setting...and then enjoy a change (ie, the addition or twist of vampires). It was actually my publisher who suggested that I write another vampire series in Regency-era. Maybe the Victorian will be next?
Q: Why did you switch from the vampires being the bad guys to making them the heroes of the books? Was it because that’s where popular fiction has gone or has your personal opinion of vampires also changed?
A: A little of both.
I think it comes down to the fact that we all have good and evil in us—vampires too—and the struggles we deal with on a day to day basis are, generally (hopefully) the submersion of evil to the overall good. I thought it would be a fascinating challenge to write vampires who have sold their souls to the devil, who are tied to him...and how they struggle with that battle. Just as we all do.
And, let’s face it...vampires can be sexy. I just had to figure out a way to make them sexy while torturing them a little. ;-)
Q: Can you tell us a little about the first Regency Draculia book, The Vampire Voss? Tell us about Voss and his love interest Angelica.
A: Voss is your typical Dracule: he’s rich, has everything he ever wanted, and enjoys the pleasures of life. He has nothing to worry about—he’s going to live forever, his Asthenia isn’t a common object, and he lives only for the moment.
Yet...something changes when he first meets Angelica. For the first time in his Draculean life, he can’t enthrall her. He can’t get what he wants.
And then the unthinkable happens: one of his Draculean friends dies...and that causes Voss to start thinking about what would happen if he died, having sold his soul as he did.
All through the story, we see Voss as a very superficial, very selfish and hedonistic man—somewhat unlikable when we’re thinking of hero material. Yes, he’s sexy and handsome and charming...but that can only go so far. Is there anything else beneath that insouciant smile and those skillful hands?
Angelica was raised hearing stories about vampires from her half-Gypsy grandmother—and she never believed in those terrible stories until she witnesses a horrific, violent vampire attack. Now she’s terrified because these horrible creatures are after her and her sister. She turns to Voss for help.
Uh-oh.
Q: The first book, The Vampire Voss, is scheduled to hit shelves March 22, when will the other 2 books in the series, The Vampire Dimitri and The Vampire Narcise, be released?
A: Dimitri and Narcise will follow in April and May!
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers today?
A: Just thanks for being here, and I hope that they enjoy my new twist on the vampire legend in Regency England!
Thank you , Colleen, for once again joining us at Fang-tastic Books!
Here's a blurb and excerpt from The Vampire Voss:
Voss, also known as Viscount Dewhurst, relishes the sensual pleasures immortality affords. A member of the Dracule—a cabal of powerful, secretive noblemen marked with a talisman that reveals their bartered souls—the mercenary Voss has remained carefully neutral…until Angelica.
Angelica Woodmore possesses the Sight, an ability invaluable to both sides of a looming war among the Dracule. Her very scent envelops Voss in a scarlet fog of hunger—for her body and her blood. But he is utterly unprepared for the new desire that overcomes him—to protect her.
Now Voss must battle his very nature to be with Angelica…but this vampire never backs down from a fight.
Excerpt. © All rights reserved.
Voss adjusted the shoulders of his coat, aligning the seams, then smoothed the lapels and hem. Having been alive for more than a hundred forty years, he'd seen his share of fashions come and go—and some of them had been horrific. Thank the Fates that the wigs and long, swinging coats that had been in fashion during all of the upheaval around Charles II had given way to shirts and neckcloths and pantaloons. The tailoring was much more attractive, and showing one's own hair was much preferred after decades of wigs and powder.
But Voss's mind wasn't, for once, wholly on his appearance or how he was going to find a nice plump thigh or two to sample…along with, of course, a bit more intimacy. Instead he was still mulling over the expression on Dimitri's face two nights ago in the back rooms at White's.
Dimitri still hadn't forgiven him for that night in Vienna, and Voss supposed he couldn't wholly blame him. The incident in 1690 that had caused their rift had been a combination of misjudgment and unfortunate happenstance. Voss had long written it off to his inexperience and having only been Dracule for six years at the time. Nevertheless, he should have realized that whatever sense of humor Dimitri had had long been lost after becoming Dracule. Or perhaps he'd never even had one, growing up the son of an English earl during the dark times of Oliver Cromwell and his stark Puritan ways.
But that occasion in Vienna had taken place so long ago that the Plague had still been a threat, and unfortunate as it was, the resulting destruction of Dimitri's property and the death of his mistress had been an accident. Most of the blame was, and rightly should be, laid at the feet of Cezar Moldavi—who'd also been in Vienna.
But however the blame had been distributed, the fact that he'd infuriated Dimitri all those years ago made it more difficult for Voss to get what he needed from him. And the fact was he needed Dimitri's cooperation now that Woodmore was gone. They weren't precisely enemies, Voss and Dimitri—but neither did they fully trust each other. It was more as if they were two dogs circling, eyeing each other balefully. With Dimitri doing most of the baleful eyeing, if one was to be wholly honest.
Voss frowned, adjusting the cuff of his shirt. Even if Chas Woodmore—who was not a member of the Draculia—wasn't dead now, he would be as soon as Cezar Moldavi found him with his sister. It was only a matter of time.
"Bastard's as cold and frigid as a dead mortal," he muttered to himself, thinking of Dimitri and his decades of self-denial of the most basic of needs. Whether it stemmed from the incident with Moldavi and Lerina that night in Vienna, or maybe because of his previous mistress, Meg, he didn't know, but Dimitri's choice was an abstinence worse than chastity. Neither of which were the least bit attractive to Voss.
"Beg pardon, my lord?" said his valet, Kimton, turning from the wardrobe. A variety of rejected neckcloths hung from his fingers and over his arms.
"Nothing," Voss replied, picking up his hat and gloves. He paused one last time to admire the cut of his steel-blue coat and gray, gold and midnight patterned vest. His shirt was crisp and white, and the chosen neckcloth a rich sapphire. He'd chosen to stud it with a black jet pin in the shape of an X.
Or, if looked at from a different angle, a cross. But no one would recognize the irony of that except another Dracule.
He smiled, admired the glint of his fangs as they eased smoothly out to press against his lower lip and flashed a bit of that alluring glow from his pupils. Tonight was going to be a delightful challenge. He wondered which of the Wood-more sisters would fall prey to his charm first. Another game, of course. It didn't really matter which one did, as long as one of them succumbed and he could get the information he needed—namely, which of them had the gift of the Sight.
After that, it would be a simple matter to coax the information he wanted from the chit, and then he could be on his way before Woodmore was any wiser. The biggest concern was, however, whether Moldavi knew yet just how valuable the sisters were. The last thing Voss wanted was for Moldavi to realize he could procure his own information from the girls, for it would decidedly deflate Voss's leverage with him. And it would take all of the amusement out of things.
If nothing else, Voss appreciated pleasure and amusement in his life.
After all, when one lived forever, and one was rich as sin, one had to find entertainment and pleasure in order to keep things from becoming mundane. Unfortunately his attempt at amusement and puzzle-solving was precisely what had driven the wedge between him and Dimitri more than a century ago.
But then again, a simple life without pleasure, diversion and the matching of wits would be tedious. Especially when it stretched on for eternity.
Voss ignored the internal rumble of discontent and reached for the handkerchief that Kimton had neatly folded, tucking it into a pocket, giving himself a last critical once-over in the mirror.
It was a relief to return to civilization after spending the majority of the last generation in the Colonies. The man who'd been installed as his father, Lord Dewhurst, had retired from his post—which was to say, he'd been paid off to live the rest of his years in the mountains of Romania or Switzerland—and Voss had been able to reinstate himself as Dewhurst after a forty-year exile. During that time, he'd managed brief trips to Paris, Vienna, Rome and even London, of course, but he couldn't remain there long and still draw on his accounts.
It was too difficult and certainly impolitic to explain why Viscount Dewhurst never aged, disliked going outside when it was very sunny and preferred the warm rich taste of blood to any vintage or, Luce forbid, the rot they called ale in Boston. And if anyone noticed the extreme resemblance between every other generation of Lord Dewhursts, it was merely written off to a strong family tree.
Voss smiled as he pulled on his own gloves. A strong and quite unique family tree indeed. The fact that he and Dimitri, as well as Cezar Moldavi, sprang from the same widespread branches was merely an irritation in the grand scheme of things. It was fortunate to Voss's way of thinking that his Draculian ancestors, as well as those of Dimitri, Cale and a limited number of others, had found their wives among the British and French peerage and thus had conferred upon them their titles and estates throughout Western Europe. Moldavi's roots, on the other hand, were firmly entrenched in the cold, uncivilized mountains of Transylvania and Romania. Drafty castles and mountainous estates located leagues from anything resembling civilization would not be to Voss's liking. Perhaps that was part of the reason Moldavi was so intent on growing his power over mortal and Dracule alike, and why he'd established himself in Paris, trying to create an ally in Bonaparte.
At the bottom of the stairs of his James Park residence, Voss found his butler, Moross (whom he privately called Morose for obvious reasons), waiting at the door.
"Your carriage, my lord," the man intoned. It wasn't time for his once-a-decade smile, so he merely looked down his long bloodhound face.
"Where's Eddersley? And Brickbank?" Voss asked, glancing at the clock in the foyer. Nearly eleven. They'd been expected by half past ten, and he thought he'd heard voices below as he finished dressing. Everyone in the household knew better than to interrupt him in his toilette.
"Here!" trilled a voice. A very happy voice—rather a bit high in pitch to be comfortably masculine—which belonged to Brickbank. From the sound of it, he'd been into Voss's private vintage in the study. Blast. He'd only been back in London for three days and already Brickbank was becoming an annoyance.
Yes, Voss was more than ready to make the rounds in Society and take advantage of any offered—or coaxed—opportunities therein whilst going about his more urgent business, but there was a time for play and a time for business. To quote a book that he was only vaguely familiar with.
In most cases, however, Voss found a way to combine both business and pleasure.
Brickbank cared for little more than charming a few debutantes in a dark corner to see how far down their gloves would slip. Although Voss wasn't averse to those challenges himself, he had a bit more on his mind than that. With Moldavi riding his tongue along Bonaparte's arse crack, the Draculia cartel in London would be well served by preparedness.
And Voss was in the position to accomplish just that.
The door to the study opened and out tottered Brickbank, his eyes bright and his nose tinged red. Behind him strode Eddersley, his mop of thick dark hair a mess as usual and a bemused expression on his face. Voss met his eyes and Ed-dersley shrugged.
"Shall we?" Voss asked coolly, resisting the urge to look at the condition of his study. Morose would see to any disruption with pleasure. "The ball should be in full crush by now."
"You're certain the Woodmore chits will be there?" asked Brickbank, bumping against him as they both moved toward the front door. "Abhor stuffy crushes."
"By all accounts they will. At least, the two elder ones. Unless Corvindale has locked them away already," Voss replied, stepping back so that his clumsy friend could precede him through the front door.
Eddersley gave a short laugh. "Dimitri likely hasn't yet met them. He'd be in no hurry to accept his responsibility as their guardian, temporary or otherwise. That would mean actually speaking to a mortal—and a female one at that—and removing himself from his study."
Voss nodded, smiling to himself. He'd given Corvindale the news only two nights ago; even he wouldn't have moved that quickly to get the girls under his roof and safe from Moldavi. And that was precisely the reason he was taking himself off to the Lundhames' ball tonight.
There were rumors about the Woodmor...
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