When Love Meets Monsters — Paranormal Romance!
By Kelli A. Wilkins
Hi Everyone,
To celebrate my favorite month, I’m
writing about what happens when horror meets romance—paranormal romance!
Although I create hot and spicy romances,
I actually started out writing horror stories. For some, that might seem like
an odd combination, but it works for me. One half of my brain writes the
horror, and the other half writes the romance. (In fact, I released two horror
stories last fall. You can read more about them on my site or my Amazon author
page.)
I like writing horror fiction because I
get to explore different settings, plots, and characters that I couldn’t
develop in romance. Sometimes after working on several romances, I’ll switch
moods and write a horror story to give my brain and writing muscles a change of
pace.
My horror short stories are more
psychological/spooky/creepy than gory, and it’s fun to add something scary (or
strange!) into a romance. Sometimes it’s hard to keep a paranormal romance
within bounds—you have to blend just enough horror elements into the love story
without grossing out (or turning off) the heroine or hero… or readers!
Other times, the challenge to writing a
good paranormal romance is creating a believable plot or finding a way to make
a “monster” attractive/romantic/sexy. If one of your characters is a monster
(of the non-human variety) you must believe your creature is real, whether he’s
a vampire, a werewolf, or something else entirely.
If you don’t write the creature
believably, readers won’t buy into it, and there certainly won’t be any sparks
flying in your romance. As a writer, you need to make your monster as real as
any other human character and flesh him out completely with a backstory, goals,
motivation, and conflicts. (What kind of monster is he? How did he get that
way? What is life like for him?)
My contemporary paranormal, Confessions
of a Vampire’s Lover started out with the premise “What if a vampire
went to the beach and fell in love with a surfer?” The book is extra “unique”
in that it’s told in first person from the male character’s point of view.
I made Anya (the vampire) sympathetic and
sexy, and not overtly terrifying—yet
she still flexed her vampire muscles when she wanted to. This story could have easily
gone down the horror road and become a full-fledged vampire story, but I wanted
to show a softer, kinder side to the Anya and embrace her once-human side.
My gay paranormal, Killer in Wolf’s Clothing
is not your usual werewolf love story. Readers should know that Deke, the
“werewolf” character, doesn’t actually turn into a “wolf-man”—he’s more of a
shapeshifter who transforms into a super-aggressive Alpha male during the full
moon. As I say in the book, “It’s more Incredible
Hulk than American Werewolf in London.”
I almost had a problem writing Killer
in Wolf’s Clothing because I’m “old-school” when it comes to creatures
of the night. I expect my werewolves to be violent and vicious, and anything
but cuddly. In my opinion, if a person is going to turn into a
werewolf/wolf-man, he should look like the werewolves in Dog Soldiers. (A horror movie I highly recommend.)
As I wrote the book, I contrasted Deke’s
harsh and demanding personality with that of his gentle alter-ego Greg. Greg understands
his condition and does everything he can to keep Deke suppressed. But Deke is a
badass with a serious need for revenge, and the antagonist, Blayne, is just
about as violent and vicious as you can get (without fangs and claws). I
enjoyed writing this story, and although it’s dark in places, Larry (Greg’s
boyfriend) lightens the mood with his offbeat sense of humor.
The
Viking’s Witch is
a historical romance with paranormal elements set in Scotland in 803 A.D. The
heroine, Odaria, is what they called a witch back then—nowadays we’d call her a
psychic and a healer.
Odaria’s
“magic” is the catalyst that sets the story in motion. When the book opens,
Odaria is about to be burned alive for being a witch. She calls down a spell
and curses the villagers while unknowingly invoking a Viking raid. Or so it
seems…
Odaria
uses her “powers” for self-preservation and to get revenge on the people who
hurt her. Rothgar (the hero) doesn’t believe in her “magic” and thinks she’s
merely pretending to be a witch to frighten people. But after a highly-charged
interaction with Brennan (the villain), Rothgar gets a taste of what Odaria
could really do if she set her mind
to it.
I
loved showing readers (and Rothgar) Odaria’s powers of clairvoyance,
telekinesis, and psychometry. The scenes that included the “magic” elements
were a lot of fun to write. I’ve always been interested in psychic phenomena
and other New Age/paranormal subjects, so it was easy for me to incorporate
what I know into Odaria’s character.
Vampires, shapeshifters, witches… no
matter what subgenre of paranormal romance you write, readers need to be swept
into the story and buy into the premise that you’ve created. Your job as a
writer is to make the reader believe in the paranormal element (whether it’s a werewolf,
zombie, vampire, or ghost) and take the reader on a journey with the main
characters as they fall in love. The situations in the story need to be
plausible and told in a way that grips the reader, even if the premise seems a
bit far-fetched (at first).
When writing paranormal romance, don’t be
afraid to break patterns, make your characters different, or have them go against
stereotype. Give readers something unexpected, turn a cliché on its ear, or use
a different point of view—it’ll make your work stand out. Why not set your
werewolf story in Hawaii? Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover takes
place at the beach—and that’s not a place you expect to find a vampire.
Order Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover here:
Order
Killer in Wolf’s Clothing here:
Order
The Viking’s Witch here:
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at
paranormal romances. I like hearing from readers, so feel free to drop me a
line with questions or comments. You can catch up on all of my writings and
follow me on social media here:
Newsletter sign-up: http://eepurl.com/HVQqb
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelli A.
Wilkins is an award-winning author who has published more than 95 short
stories, 19 romance novels, and 5 non-fiction books. Her romances span many
genres and heat levels.
In 2016
Kelli began re-releasing her romances previously published by Amber Quill
Press. Visit her website and blog for a full title list, book summaries, and
other information. Her Medallion Press historical western romance, Lies,
Love & Redemption, was published in September 2016.
Her
writing book, You Can Write—Really! A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Fiction is
a fun and informative non-fiction guide based on her 15 years of experience as
a writer. It’s filled with writing exercises and helpful tips all authors can
use.
If you
like to be scared, check out Kelli’s horror ebooks: Dead Til Dawn and Kropsy’s
Curse.
Kelli
posts on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKelliWilkins and Twitter: www.Twitter.com/KWilkinsauthor. She also writes a weekly blog: http://kelliwilkinsauthor.blogspot.com/.
Visit her
website, www.KelliWilkins.com to learn more about all of her writings, read book
excerpts, reviews, and more. Readers can sign up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/HVQqb.
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