Today I have something new for you. My friend Lauralynn Elliott and I are trading guest posts on the topic: Why Paranormal Romance? I hope you enjoy reading Lauralynn’s take on the topic, and then pop on over to her blog to find out more about her and read my post. 🙂
********
I want to thank J.R. for having me on her blog today. This is my first guest post, so I’m not sure if I’m going to say anything remotely interesting.
Why paranormal romance? I think it was kind of a natural progression for me. I can remember when I was younger I just devoured romances. Most of them were historical romances, but I also read contemporary romances. I loved the interaction between the two main characters, and although I knew there would be a happy ending, I still felt this kind of suspense. There was always this thing in the back of my mind wondering if they really would get together in the end. I was a big fan of happily ever after.
Now let’s talk about the paranormal part. When I was about seven years old, my grandmother started watching this soap opera that was very different from the usual story line. There was a vampire! And, later, ghosts and werewolves! I remember rushing home from school every day, anxious to see Dark Shadows. It’s funny that I’m watching the old episodes on Netflix now. Dark Shadows was the show that spawned my love for the paranormal. It was just spooky enough for me as a child without being too scary. There was romance on the show, too, but it was kind of twisted because of the vampire’s obsessions, but I didn’t really understand that part back then.
I always wanted to be a writer. I don’t know why or at what point I abandoned that dream, but I did. Then, about three or four years ago, I met a writer who hadn’t yet published anything, but she was working toward that. I told her about my dream and she told me to go for it. She encouraged me until I finally sat down and wrote a paranormal romance. I put together my love for romance and my love for the paranormal, and that’s what came out. That was my first published novel, A Rocky Path. This was a ghost story, which is my favorite thing to write. Don’t get me wrong, I love vampires, but ghosts are my true love. There’s just something about a spooky old house, a haunted lake, or a mysterious man by a rocky shore that send chills (good ones!) down my back. I love the thrills from paranormal stories and also from romantic stories. So what better way to get double thrills than to put the two together! So now I write about ghosts, vampires, elves, and wizards. One of the great things about writing paranormal romance is there aren’t a lot of rules. There are no such things as vampires, so no one can tell you what a vampire is supposed to be like. You can take your imagination to the limit with paranormal romance. You can still have the hot, sizzling love story with great love scenes, but you can amp up the sizzle with a character that’s full of mystery.
Why do I write paranormal romance? It’s really simple. Because it’s so much fun!
Lauralynn Elliott is an author of paranormal and fantasy romance books published independently in primarily electronic format. You will find everything from vampires and ghosts to elves and wizards in her novels and novellas. She enjoys putting a little bit of a different twist on some of the old ideas about our favorite fictional characters. Lauralynn lives in the southeastern United States with her husband of “several” years. She enjoys reading, playing computer games, and spending time with friends.
J.R. says:
Here’s how you can learn more about Lauralynn Elliott. Check out her blog, and her author page at Amazon.
For one of those ghost stories Lauralynn mentioned, how about her book Haunted Lake?
Haunted Lake by Lauralynn Elliott
After losing her best friend in a fire, Rachel Madison rents a cabin on Misty Lake, trying to work through her guilt and sorrow. While there, she meets two men, one good looking and friendly and the other handsome, but scarred. Soon, she realizes that the peace she was trying to find here wasn’t to be, as supernatural events begin to take place. The strange encounters with ghosts at the lake cause Rachel to form a strong bond of friendship with the two men. The three friends move closer and closer to danger as the events unfold to a possible tragic result.
Excerpt:
Daniel was looking at her intently, and she nervously picked up her tea cup and took a sip of the hot liquid. Daniel smiled slightly and did the same.
“You seem a little ill at ease, Rachel. I’m not making you nervous, am I?”
“Of course not. Why should I be nervous?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, putting down his cup and taking hers out of her hand and putting it down as well. “Maybe because you’re afraid I might kiss you?”
Her heart fluttered as he laid his palm against her face and drew her toward him. He lightly brushed his lips against hers, making her insides quiver with both anxiety and excitement. It had been a very long time since she had been in this kind of situation and she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do. Daniel’s hands dropped to her waist and her hands twined around behind his neck as his kiss deepened and his warm lips parted. She felt his tongue seeking entrance and she opened herself to his exploration. Their embrace tightened as passion flared between them. But then, something strange happened. She suddenly felt as if she wasn’t quite herself. It was almost as if she was someone else and Daniel wasn’t really Daniel. It was disorienting and she pulled away from Daniel.
“What in the world just happened?” he asked in startled voice.
“What do you mean?” asked Rachel, wondering if he had felt the same odd sensation that she had.
“I don’t know. It was weird. One minute I was enjoying kissing the sexiest woman I’ve met in a long time; the next, I felt like someone was in there with me.”
“I don’t understand,” she said evasively.
“Hey, you felt it, too, didn’t you?” he accused.
“Felt what?”
“Come on, Rachel, I know you felt something strange happening. I can tell by the look on your face that you know what I’m talking about.”
“Well, I thought I felt something. But I figured I was imagining things.”
He stood up. “This is just getting too weird. First the talk about ghosts, now this feeling of…I don’t know…possession. I think I need to go home now. Maybe when I wake up in the morning, the world will be back to normal.”
Congrats on your first guest post, Lauralynn! As agreed with J.R. and now you, paranormal romance writing IS so fun.
Hi Nadja! This guest post thing was a little scary, but it was fun. And you’re right…writing paranormal romance IS fun.