Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Pass Me My Osterizer!


SamMarie Ashe here... I love blended genres. I love to read blended genre romances. I love to write blended genre romances.

But what, exactly, is a blended genre?  Exactly what it sounds like.

Take a pinch of contemporary, a dash of paranormal, a healthy dose of romance, throw in a little suspense, turn on the Osterizer, and there you have a contemporary paranormal romantic suspense. What a mouthful. But by the right author, it is oh so delicious!

Here are several of my favorite genre-blending authors and some of their specific published series:

  • Brenda Joyce – contemporary paranormal with elements of historical and time travel (Masters of Time series). She also writes many historical romances.
  • Linda Howard – one of my top favorite authors, she is usually shelved in the romance section. But lately many of her books are labeled “a novel” and are closer to romantic suspense. She has written several contemporary paranormal romances as well as many regular romances (historical and contemporary).
  • Katie McAlister – multiple genres within romance, from paranormal (vampires in The Dark Ones series to dragon shifters in the Aisling Grey series) to historical to contemporary. She’s quite prolific, crossing genres and blending two or three very well. The Aisling Grey series are more akin to urban fantasy blended with romantic suspense.
  • Gena Showalter – Another prolific author like Katie, she writes contemporary paranormal (Atlantis series and the Lords of the Underworld series) to urban fantasy (Alien Huntress series) to regular contemporary romance. 
  • Elizabeth Amber – Historical paranormal erotica (Lords of Satyr series). Definitely not for the timid reader.
My point is that any genre within romance can be blended with any other successfully. The key is balance, but write the story you want to write. Blend it the way you want. More and more authors are doing just that, and they are lumped into “paranormal” or “romance” or “historical” because the blended genre is an ever-evolving recipe with no limits.

I love writing paranormal romance where I have the freedom to make up another world, another culture, another creature. Paranormal does not mean vampires and werewolves. It only means it is something beyond normal explanation. As writers we create that explanation, and blend it with another genre to make our own distinct style. Just the nature of writing a paranormal romance is a blended genre of Sci-Fi (or Fantasy) and Romance, isn’t it?

Thanks for reading! Now to find some ice and berries for a blended smoothie…

© SamMarie Ashe 2011 All Rights Reserved

3 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

My favorite smoothie recipe:
To one blender/Vita Mix, add 1 banana, 1 peach, a handful (or two) of frozen strawberries, add a dash of milk and blend. Into a glass or cup add 1/2 cup frozen blueberries before putting in your very thick (you can add more milk if you like is slurpier) smoothie. Top with another 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries and enjoy!

There is a grey area in the paranormal genre - where to some people it is possible and to others it isn't. I like that grey area. Perhaps because I believe many things are possible...

Thanks, SamMarie for an informative post!

Sarah Raplee said...

I share your love of blended genres and writing wide open stories where anything can happen. Love to read 'em, too.

Your enthusiasm shines through in this post. Love it!

Diana McCollum said...

A well blended blog post! Loved it!