Ahhh….my two favorite topics. It's just so hard to choose, isn't it?

Before I get into the questions, I have a little announcement to make regarding Readers Ask: I'm going to be moving it to Wednesdays starting next week. So, if you have a question you'd like me to try and answer, send it to me, as always at questions at colleengleason dot com.

Okay, on to the questions. (Now you know I'm not going to give anything away, right?)

(Warning: spoilers for Rises the Night below…) 

S. Faust asks: I know who Sebastian's "Vamp" relative is, however, is Sebastian also a vamp or just in this for himself?

Sebastian is not a vampire. Victoria, and the others, would have sensed him if he were.  And as for his motivations…he's a pretty conflicted guy, so his motivations aren't always clear even to himself!

Someone else asked me (I have to look up who it is) if Max and Sebastian have known each other for a long time….in other words, do they have a history?

The answer is: most definitely. And more of that history will be alluded to in The Bleeding Dusk, and the pieces will start to fall into place. Then, in the fourth book, the whole story should become clear–why Max and Sebastian have such antipathy for each other!

Thanks so much, sorry for a short entry today…I'm running off to take the kids for pony rides! 

Thanks to all who have submitted questions for Readers Ask so far! If you have a question, send it to me via email at questions at colleengleason dot com, and if I choose to answer it, you'll be entered in a drawing to win a copy of The Bleeding Dusk. I'll be giving away multiple copies in the fall when the Advance Copies are available, so there will be multiple chances to win!

Now, on to this week's question, which comes from Chris of Stuff As Dreams Are Made On. He asks:

I've had a question I've been wanting to ask since I started book one. Seeing that the books are set in England and most recently in Italy, did you travel to do research for the books? Have you been to London, Venice, Rome? And aside from just locations, what other research was involved for these books…as far as the time period, dress, formalities of society, etc.? 

The short answer to the question is, no, I didn't travel to research these locations (much to my dismay, believe me!). I would love to go to Italy and you'd think that writing two books set there (Dusk is set in Rome) would be a great excuse to do so…but it just wasn't in the cards.

However, I have been to England and spent several days in London, about ten years ago. So that has helped a bit with the feel for the city–taking into account the fact that it's two hundred years later than when my books are set.

So, yes, I did a lot of research about the geographic locales and historical setting. It helps that I've read many books set in this time period (both contemporary and classic), so I already had a a good sense for the customs, clothing, and lifestyle of 1820s England.

I supplemented this knowledge by doing research on specific things as they came up–what kind of carriage Victoria would ride in to a ball as opposed to the hack that Barth drives…what kind of decor might be used at a debut…whether the waltz was permitted to be danced by unmarried women at this time (yes, it was)…where a place like The Silver Chalice would be located in London, etc.

When it came time to research Italy, a place I'd never been, I started with the Internet. But then I quickly graduated to travel books. They work wonderfully for researching geographic locations–not only do I get photographs of historic buildings, but maps, information like walking distance, and lots of historical tidbits–and all in one place. My travel book about Rome is marked up like crazy!

I also spent some time at the Graduate Library at the University of Michigan (which besides being my alma mater, is a public university and very close to me) reading through some of Lord Byron's journals and letters about his time in Venice (for portions of Rises the Night). The portrayal of his Italian duchess lover was gleaned right from those pages. 

I was also able to find a few really old books–so old that I had to read them in the restricted section (remind anyone of Hogwarts' library?)–about Italian secret societies, like the Carbonari and others. That, of course, was for the development of the Tutela society. 

Great question, Chris, and thanks for playing!

Check back next Friday for another question answered in Readers Ask, and have a great weekend. 

Here it is, Friday again, and I'm taking another question from a reader. If you have a burning question you'd like me to try and answer, send it to me and you might just win an advance copy of The Bleeding Dusk.

In the meanwhile, Holli B. asks:

"How many books do you plan to write about Victoria? Is this a never-ending series?"

At this time, I'm contracted to write four books about Victoria, but my editor is aware that my plan for Victoria is a total of five books, at which time she'll get her "happy ending"–as happy as it can be for a Venator.

And then after that…well, my intent is to write about a different (female) Venator, likely in a different time period. In fact, if you've read Rises the Night, you might have some suspicion about likely candidates for other characters.

Furthermore, Holli asks:

"So, do you know what's going to happen? Or do you just plot as you go along?"

J.K. Rowling I'm not! I'm one of those organic writers who really doesn't know much of what's going to happen until it flows from my fingertips to the keyboard. I have vague ideas, and sometimes little bits of scenes floating around in my head (usually snatches of highly emotional ones), but I don't really know how it's all going to work out until it does.

I do believe, however, that the stories are all buried deep in my subconscious, and that it's just a matter of uncovering them. I've written enough books (both published and unpublished) to learn that even though I write sort of blindly, lots of times things appear in the early stages of the book that don't necessarily mean anything to me…until later in the book when it becomes clear why I included that part.

(For example, why, in Rises the Night an Imperial Vampire gets away during the battle to protect John Polidori…his appearing later in the book turned out to be quite important.)

Here's another example.

I had made a collage for The Rest Falls Away in January of 2005, long before it was published–or even before I knew how it was going to end, or what was going to happen.

As you know, I sold the book (along with the second one, which hadn't been written or even plotted out) that September.

The following spring, in March 2006 to be exact, while I was writing Rises the Night, I happened to look at my collage for the first time in over a year.

I mean really looked at it, not a quick glance like I often do, not a few seconds to drool over the picture of one of the men on it, but a close look. And I saw an image that I had put on the collage well over a year before that had nothing to do with the first book, but was a small detail in the setting of the very scene I was writing that moment for the second book.

That was weird.

Here's a picture of the collage, for the curious (click to make it bigger). (And here's a link to an article I wrote about collaging.)

Don't forget to send me your questions for next week!
 

Here it is, Friday again and another question from a reader. Don't be shy…if you have a question, send it to me!

Julie McTurnan writes: "…I am also interested in Wayren. How did she become such a valuable asset to the Venators?" 

Great question! If you've read Rises the Night, you might have noticed that there's something…well…unusual about Wayren. And if you picked up on it, that would please me greatly! (In fact, both my editor and copyeditor called me on certain seemingly conflicting information about Wayren, thinking it was an error on my part…but it was purposeful. Did you catch it?)

Wayren is not a Venator, but she has been sent to help the Venators. She's got powers of her own, but they're more subtle than those of Victoria and Max and Aunt Eustacia. She is a librarian of sorts–which is why she's always studying her books and how she seems to know the answers to everything.

Have you noticed that her satchel seems to hold exactly what she needs, when she needs it? And that for the size of bag it is, it carries a lot?

In The Bleeding Dusk, we learn even more about Wayren–we have several scenes from her point of view, so we know what she is thinking during these times, and in one of the scenes, there's a nice little clue about who/what she is.

Wayren cannot be harmed by the undead, and she cannot be seen by mortals unless she wants to be. Yet, her powers have limitations. She's more of a guide and advisor to the Venators than anything else.

Great question, Julie!

Anyone have any thoughts?

Have a great weekend. (Go see Ocean's Thirteen. It's really fun!) 

For today's Readers Ask, MG Braden writes:

In Rises the Night it is clear, at least to me, that there are really two suitors for Victoria.  I switched between them a couple of times myself (ok, I'm being a bit vague because I don't want to give anything away to those who made not have read it yet).  What I want to know is…in future installments are we going to see Victoria still caught between the two or will there be an obvious choice made?  Or maybe someone new?  OR, as their creator, have you even decided yet? 

Thanks for the question, MG! And, yes, I have known from the beginning who Victoria's final choice will be, so hopefully, as future books are released, the readers will follow the path that Victoria does and understand why she picks who she picks.

What I won't tell you is whether you've already met Victoria's Mr. Right (buuuuut….you probably have.). However, by the end of the fourth book (which I'll be starting to write very soon), it should be obvious whom it will be. (It's my intent to write five books about Victoria. And then move on to a different Venator character.)

And here's one from Becky, that sort of follows along with the same topic:

If Victoria is the last direct decendent of the Gardella legacy then what will happen to the legacy since she's being told she can't have children due to the danger they would be in? 

Well, one thing readers don't know yet is that Victoria may not be the only Gardella left of the direct line. (She's actually not, but that fact hasn't come into play quite yet…and may not in Victoria's books.) And thus…yes, Victoria's probably going to have to come to some sort of decision as to whether she can/should worry about continuing the line. She starts to think about that in The Bleeding Dusk, in fact.

So….who's your pick for Victoria's Mr. Right? Or do you think we haven't met him yet? Feel free to weigh in in the comments, but be careful of spoilers (either warn about them, or stay vague).

(And if you have a question and want to be entered in a drawing to win an ARC of The Bleeding Dusk, click here to find out how!)