I
write paranormal romance, and that blend of woo-woo and woo-hoo seems perfectly
natural to me (or should I say supernatural?) because, really, love has to be
one of the most fantastical notions out there.
 |
| Jessa Slade |
I’m
always surprised when I encounter non-romance readers who say they are
surprised that my
lovers are demons and deadly fairies and other dark and spooky folk. Hasn’t love made everyone do crazy and wondrous—even dangerous—things? Of COURSE love and magic go together! Like chocolate and… chocolate syrup with chocolate sprinkles.
No
other story sinks as deep as a vampire’s fangs and no other takes us as high as
a dragon shifter’s wings. But I think the enduring allure of a paranormal
romance is the truth at its heart: we are all the same inside. We may feel
strange and alone but we dream of finding a soul mate with whom we can fight and
love and save our world. In that way, the most outlandish paranormal romance is
as “real” as anything.
lovers are demons and deadly fairies and other dark and spooky folk. Hasn’t love made everyone do crazy and wondrous—even dangerous—things? Of COURSE love and magic go together! Like chocolate and… chocolate syrup with chocolate sprinkles.
Paranormal
romance takes all the sensations of a passionate encounter—the urge to howl at
the moon, that itchy feeling we are coming out of our own skin, the desire to
bite and claim, that seeming union of souls, the wish to live forever in our
love—and pushes those feelings to the utmost outer limits. While I also enjoy
the quieter romances with their real-world issues and relatable heroes and
heroines, in the end I always find myself circling back to the weird and the
wild. My imagination is captured by the powerful heroines and the heroes with
their six-pack abs and menacing tattoos. Unbelievable? Maybe. Or maybe we just
need to expand our beliefs.
No
other story sinks as deep as a vampire’s fangs and no other takes us as high as
a dragon shifter’s wings. But I think the enduring allure of a paranormal
romance is the truth at its heart: we are all the same inside. We may feel
strange and alone but we dream of finding a soul mate with whom we can fight and
love and save our world. In that way, the most outlandish paranormal romance is
as “real” as anything.
I
think that is worth believing in.
Is
there a paranormal romance world you’d like to live in? Which paranormal
romance hero would tempt you to throw away real life and run off to the
fantasy? Leave a comment for a chance to win your choice of one book from my
Steel Born series (DARK HUNTER’S TOUCH, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSE, MATED BY
MOONLIGHT, or DARK PRINCE’S DESIRE).
***
Despite
a grade school aptitude test that predicted she would become a farmer, Jessa
Slade followed her wandering imagination into writing paranormal romance, urban
fantasy romance and science fiction romance. The fourth book in her Steel Born
series, DARK PRINCE’S DESIRE, comes out in November from Harlequin Nocturne
Cravings.
