The Week of Giveaways Has Begun!
This weekend, at the conference, I was talking to erotica author Megan Hart about the current popularity of paranormal romance, and we touched upon the subject of picking your paranormal creatures with care, because of the insurmountability of certain conflicts.
Vampire: “He’s an immortal bloodsucker and I’m a human woman.” Most vampire books on the market today resolve this conundrum by turning the human woman into a vampire, or into a vampire-like creature of the book’s world choice. Because it’s not an HEA if she dies a few years down the road and he mourns for an eternity. Only very, very rarely in the current market is the vampire cured of vampirism through love of a good woman.
Werewolf (or other animal-human hybrid or shapeshifter): Usually the conflict here involves the acceptance of the other, with a real world correlation of marrying into a different culture. The human has to learn to accept the pack and pack ways, or vice versa. Sometimes the human is turned into a werewolf, too, but most often, they just go on with their lives, with the understanding that occasionally, dude’s going to shapeshift. Ditto with the aliens.
Demon (or Angel): Same problem as vampires, but the guy is usually “cured” and turned into a human.
Time Traveler: It varies. Most often, the time traveler returns to the present, person from the past in tow. Occasionally, the time traveler ends up with a descendant or reincarnation of their old love in some sort of strange, last-minute switcheroo. Rarely does the time traveler stay in the past with their lover.
Time travel tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth because of the commonly-used reincarnation trope. I was talking to my friend Julie Leto about this the other day, and she said the problem was, if you marry the reincarnation of your medieval Highland warrior, it’s not really him. It’s a dude who grew up in the 80s, listening to rock music and playing Nintendo.
Which leads us to the Ghost Paradox. Ghosts are not a popular trope in the current paranormal romance market, and the reason for that is, there is no “cure” and for the human female to join said ghost, she’d have to die. Doesn’t sound like such a happily-ever-after to me.
But then I read Julie Leto’s newest book, Phantom Pleasures, in which she solves The Ghost Paradox. The hero of the book is a spectral, magic-wielding being from centuries past, but he’s not dead. He’s cursed, thereby allowing for the “ghost” trope without that sticky insurmountable conflict biting you in the end. Brill, huh?
I’m giving away copies of Phantom Pleasures this week. To win today’s copy, leave a comment to this post saying what your favorite type of paranormal romance is and why.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:13 am
Diana:
Ha ha! I had to deal with this issue too, in Ghost Girl. But I can’t say yet how I handled it.
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April 1st, 2008 at 10:46 am
Hi, this is the highly excitable Borders clerk that kind of freaked out on you on Saturday. The one who I think said something about stalking authors and generally sounded like a crazy person.
Sorry about that.
I read Rites of Spring (Break) and LOVED it. I actually finished it that night. I couldn’t put it down. I want to write more but fear spoiling others so I’ll just stop there.
PS. My favorite paranormal romances, in theory, are vampire-centered, but I love Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten so much that werewolves are a close second.
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April 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am
Welcome back. I saw that nice piccy of you on Barbara Vey’s blog.
I don’t have a favorite paranormal romance. I’m not into vampires or werewolves (although I used to enjoy Dara Joy’s books). But a Julie Leto quasi-ghost would be cool.
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April 1st, 2008 at 11:41 am
(Don’t enter my name because I already have a copy.)
I dig demons because it takes a wicked good writer to redeem a boy who has been bad from birth and/or creation.
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April 1st, 2008 at 11:58 am
My favorite paranormal romance would be one that has a wonderful historical setting in another era. The romance and the locale would make this novel unique and fascinating.
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April 1st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I love paranormal romance. I like the element of danger that is present in the stories. I like vampires, werewolfs and shapeshifters.
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April 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pm
My favorite paranormal romance is time travel: I love Gabaldon and enjoyed Garwood (although sheput the reincarnation angle in).
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April 1st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I read a variety of paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and sometimes I disagree on which label the publisher stuck on the cover. My favorite? Whatever I’m currently reading. I suppose shape-shifters or possibly faery.
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April 1st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Of course not, Susan! That would be a spoiler!
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Ha! Erin, in my as-yet-unposted wrap up from the conference, the section about my trip to Borders reads something like, “And then I ran into a Borders clerk who said she read my books, and I started feeling tremendously flattered and recognized, until I realized I was wearing an enormous nametag, and then I was embarrassed that I’d come into a BOOKSTORE to buy WRAPPING PAPER, and spent all this time digging around in my bag for a Rose & grave pin that I realized I left in my other purse.”
So glad you nicked that ARC and read it! And doubly glad you enjoyed it!
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Gina, I know, isn’t it funny? Barbara was such a sweetheart.
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Heather: you are very wise. I’m intrigued by the idea of the bad boy from birth. talk about a redemption story! I’ve only ever written HUMAN love interests, but.
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Petite, I hear you on the allure of an otherworldy setting. have you tried CL Wilson? I adore her books!
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Crystalgb, how do you define shapeshifters differently than werewolves? Is it that shapeshifters can control their shifting (though some werewolves can in some stories, too)? Is it that they can take other shapes than wolves? I always think of werewolves as being a subset of shapeshifters. What do you think?
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G in Berlin, Julie and I were talking about the Garwood reincarnation yesterday. She really liked it despite that, too! I haven’t read it, so I can’t say. I do, however, remember reading a Jude Devereaux where she spent the time to write about the heroine falling in love with BOTH the ancestor AND the descendant
, so you got the idea that she was always MEANT for the younger one, no matter what. I liked that.
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Random Walk, I agree with you about the fluidity of labels. I try not to put much stock in what the publisher decides to call a book. In fact, I like that things are growing less predictable in all genres.
Also, I’m working on a theory that a lot of faeries in the stories now are just vamps in fey clothing.
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April 1st, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I think you should look at Yasmin Galenorn’s -ing books, where a Fae is a vampire… and I think that in many ways you are right, what with the coldness, inhumanity, immortality, “leeching” off humans, whether in the case of vampires for blood or the fae for offspring or interest or(in Carrie Vaughn’s book) psychic energy…
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April 1st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
CL Wilson did some amazing worldbuiding. I like Alyssa Day’s Atlantis series too, esp. the mixture of different paranormal creatures in her books — vampires, shape-shifters, and the warriors of Poseidon – I’m not sure how to characterize them.
Don’t enter me in the drawing — I’m on my way out to buy Julie’s book as soon as I can tear myself away from the office.
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April 1st, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Paranormal Romance that has an appeal for me incorporates a Renaissance time period with mysterious and magical characters who are memorable.
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April 1st, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I’m going to pick up the book now that I’m back from vacation. Can’t wait!
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