She also talked in an interview to SlayerLit recently.

Dalton | March 19, 18:46 CET

Or, more to the point, who was protecting Cleveland ? I always felt we were bloody lucky there were no apocalypses at that Hellmouth, looking at the map it's really not an easy commute from Sunnydale ;).

Doesn't really sound like my bag but the mythology seems quite complete, gotta respect the world building aspect. It does seem slightly strange that she hasn't read the classics in the vampire genre though. How does she know she's not inadvertently ripping someone off completely ?

Saje | March 19, 19:23 CET

Saje, especially when you consider how grim the Buffy who'd gone to Cleveland was, in the Wish. Makes you think she encountered some pretty nasty stuff there. So how did Cleveland survive in our dimension without her?

And it does ring oddly that the author keeps going on about how having the vampires in her books be villains is unique. Maybe in the modern romance genre, but hello, Dracula?

[ edited by barboo on 2007-03-19 22:14 ]

barboo | March 19, 19:52 CET

Maybe I'm being grumpy, but is it just me or does it seem a bit off that she repeatedly uses and encourages the "Buffy" comparison to sell her book when she has not watched the series in it's entirety? It's not just in the two interviews above but see here for hundreds more examples. See just a few more interviews from Flint Journal, miladyinsanity, Buried.com, Zeus excuse. In fact I can't find an example of her talking about her book and not repeatedly mentioning BtVS. She is even giving away books on the Save Angel board directly appealing to Buffyverse fans. Would it really be so hard to at least watch the DVDs before using the series so much to sell your products?

Dalton | March 19, 19:53 CET

Dracula! I wonder if he knows Frankenstein.

Now, the Frankenstein Monster meeting Jane Austen, that would make for an interesting conversation...

Erm, yeah, anyway, plugging your work on the board to save a show you don't watch seems a bit cheeky, even with giveaways.

Craig Oxbrow | March 19, 20:24 CET

Hmmm...an interesting interview. Haven't I read it before? Oh, yeah...it's pretty much the same interview I did with Colleen over at SlayerLit.us last month! LOL

(I'm also running a contest in conjunction with the interview. It's easy peasy to enter, and you can win some nice swag!)

And Dalton, I also was surprised when Colleen told me she hadn't watched the entire series yet. But she absolutely loves the early seasons, so if I had to guess, I would suppose that she had been warned by enough people that the latter years take different turns (whether that strictly true or not), and she's reluctant to venture forth and check them out. But as I said, that's just my own guess.

Shiai | March 19, 20:28 CET

"Maybe I'm being grumpy, but is it just me or does it seem a bit off that she repeatedly uses and encourages the "Buffy" comparison to sell her book when she has not watched the series in it's entirety?"

No Dalton, it's not just you. That part put me off as well.

If she had the same taste as me, which I had thought at first, she wouldn't have been able to STOP watching Buffy.

[ edited by Xane on 2007-03-19 17:48 ]

Xane | March 19, 20:43 CET

Colleen Gleason is a local author (to me) and I heard her speak recently about her book at the Brighton, Michigan library. Afterwards, I picked up a copy and enjoy it throughly. I was working my way up to posting something like this here myself because I thought that Buffy fans would enjoy it. It's not really Buffy in a corset, but there are enough similarities to warrant comparison. Gleason has a very different mythology and goes at some of the themes of Buffy (alienation, being a girl with a calling when all you wanna do is go to a dance) from a slightly different direction. Buffy comparisons aside, most of all, The Rest Falls Away is a fun read, and I think a lot of people here would enjoy it.

Prosperina | March 19, 20:58 CET

Shiai, when I read your interview I thought it was the same one. However, she wasn't sure who should play Lilith when you talked to her and now she would like Kate Bosworth.

moley75 | March 19, 21:28 CET

Re Cleveland: Do you suppose a hellmouth just gets perkier when there's a slayer nearby? That would be worrying for the ladies of Team Slayer, and, you know... the World.

toast | March 20, 00:24 CET

I was so excited by that subject line! I've always loved the Jane Austen elements that got put into Buffy and Firefly. Like the conversation Mal and Inara have in Shindig? Straight out of Pride and Prejudice.

That was so off topic. Sorry guys.

JCapra | March 20, 01:03 CET

I'm quite intrigued now by the Jane Austen-ish slant to Gleason's stories. When I first saw the link I started to get visions of a character like Elizabeth Bennett putting vampires in their place with snappy dialogue, or a sexy takeoff of Austen like Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife. But I might just take a look-see at the first one. I enjoyed her enthusiasm about who might play the characters, still remembering Anne Rice's bitter response when she heard Tom Cruise would be playing the Lestat of Interview With The Vampire, much preferring actor John Malkovich (now that would have been a very different film) and then changed her tune after she actually saw it.

Tonya J | March 20, 05:27 CET

I agree with Ann Rice. The casting was awful for Interview with a Vampire.

Lestat was supposed to be notably tall, it's mentioned quite often in the book. They already had Brad Pitt, they could have used him, although in my mind he looked like Julian Sands.

But Antonio Banderas was a terrible choice as well. That vampire was supposed to have been turned when about 17 and kind of feminine. At that time Johnny Depp would have been perfect.
Banderas could have played Santino if they really wanted him in it.
Must be hard to create characters and then have no say in the casting.

Xane | March 20, 07:31 CET

I know the thread isn't about IWTV, but I can't resist posting a link to a page where she talks about the Tom Cruise casting:

Anne Rice Talks To January Magazine

I am not a fan of Cruise, but I have to say I agree with her assessment of him really having an understanding of the darkness inherent in the piece, and not only that but the tone. I think you can get stuck on the physicality of an actor, but he was gold in the film and made it work. Brad Pitt as Louis? Bleh, bland, boring. What on earth did Claudia see in him? And honestly, I don't think Rice has a very good understanding of the particular qualities an actor can bring to a role, not on the face of it. Wait until you read who she thinks should play Lestat in a sequel (this was 1998 so perhaps it won't come off with um, him). May Gleason have good luck should her novels be filmed.

Tonya J | March 20, 08:22 CET

Isn't Lestat supposed to be kind of sex on wheels? Tom Cruise projects the sexiness of an unused garden hose... without the fun potential.

I'd love to see Leo play Lestat. I have faith that he can pull off any role he wants to.

[ edited by JCapra on 2007-03-20 08:05 ]

JCapra | March 20, 11:02 CET