Paranormal Romance… Where Love Meets Monsters
By Romance Author 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 have published
three horror ebooks. 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, but it’s always 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. 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.
Killer in Wolf’s Clothing is not your
typical werewolf or werewolf/shifter romance. Some people might have a problem
or take issue with the subject matter, the use of humor, and/or my treatment of
shifters (what they expect a shifter to be could be quite different from my
interpretation) in this book. Yes, it’s very different. Yes, it’s graphic. And
yes, you either “get” it or you don’t.
And the same goes for Beauty
& the Bigfoot. It’s a paranormal-comedy that starts with the
premise: “What if a Bigfoot hunter’s daughter falls in love with Bigfoot?” I
took a lighthearted look at the whole subject of Sasquatch, blended in some
wacky lead characters, and added pretty hot love scenes. I don’t want to give
away the ending, but not everything about Bigfoot is what it seems. He’s not the
“monster” everyone thinks he is.
The
Viking’s Witch is
a historical romance with paranormal elements set in Scotland. 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.
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.
Order Confessions of a Vampire’s
Lover here:
 |
| Amazon * All other platforms |
Order
Killer in Wolf’s Clothing here:
 |
| Amazon * All other platforms |
Order
Beauty & the Bigfoot here:
 |
| Amazon * All other platforms |
Order
The Viking’s Witch here:
 |
| Amazon * All other platforms |
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 via the links on my contact page.
Happy Haunting!
Kelli
A. Wilkins
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelli A. Wilkins
is an award-winning author who has published more than 100 short stories, 19
romance novels, 5 non-fiction books, and 2 online writing courses. Her romances
span many genres and heat levels, and she’s also been known to scare readers
with her horror stories.
She released Extraterrestrial
Encounters, a collection of 18 sci-fi stories, in August 2019. If you like horror fiction,
don’t miss her disturbing novella, Nightmare in the North.
Her
latest historical romance, The Viking’s Witch, was released in
June 2019. This full-length novel takes place in Celtic Scotland and blends a
sensual romance with paranormal elements.
In
March 2019, Kelli published Dangerous Indenture, a historical
mystery romance set in Colonial Pennsylvania. She released the second half of
her flash fiction series, Cupid’s Schemes, in early 2019.
These two volumes of lighthearted mini-romances are perfect reads for a quick
lunchtime escape or an after-work indulgence.
Kelli released
her latest Teachable mini-course, Fiction Basics: Finding Ideas in
February 2019. She authored Fiction Writing for
Beginners through Teachable in 2018. These courses are
perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to write. Visit: https://kelliwilkins.teachable.com/ for more details.
Not just an author, Kelli is also an amateur
photographer. Visit her pages on Shutterstock https://www.shutterstock.com/g/kelli+wilkins and iStock https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/kelliwilkins to
view her photos.
Kelli posts on
her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKelliWilkins and Twitter: www.Twitter.com/KWilkinsauthor.
Visit her website
www.KelliWilkins.com or
blog http://kelliwilkinsauthor.blogspot.com/ to learn more
about all of her writings.
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