I've always been a fan of historical romances, including Jane Austen's wonderful Pride and Prejudice, but at the same time I found myself intrigued by contemporary characters like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sydney Bristow of Alias.

Buffy and Sydney had it hard enough balancing their double lives in 20th-century America, but what would it have been like for them if they'd lived a century earlier – during a time when a woman was always chaperoned, could never go out alone at night, and whose main goal in life was to get married?

That was how I got the idea for The Gardella Vampire Chronicles. It's a series about Victoria Gardella Grantworth, who, just before she is about to debut into 19th-century London Society, learns that she comes from a long line of vampire hunters.

Not only does she have to find a place to hide her stake, but she's got to figure out how to get out at night to stalk vampires in between pouring tea and filling her dance card – not to mention handle the inquisitive Marquess of Rockley, who's asking too many questions, stave off the mysterious Sebastian Vioget and determine whether he's friend or foe – and work with the arrogant Max Pesaro, who thinks women have no business being vampire hunters.