It’s time for me to admit a truth: Writing paranormal romance novels with Maverick, our big (bordering on ginormous) black cat is one way to keep me in the chair with my hands on the keyboard.

There are two chairs at my grandmother’s desk now. One for me and one for him. Both are padded (though recently I think the whole room should be, but that’s another post)

No, he’s not the least bit spoiled, why would you ask?

Blog Tour!

In the mornings, after breakfast, writing time means getting this big black kitty to settle in for a nap on his chair (rather than in my chair). After the time invested in that, I stay put so we don’t have to repeat that process for a good long time.

One problem with getting Maverick settled is the finch cage in the vicinity of said desk and two chairs. This cat is nothing if not persistent about pestering the birds. He snuffles around, searching for any discarded seed hulls or feathers that might have slipped to the floor. Maybe he’s channeling his inner blood hound and hopes the discarded bits will reveal a way into the cage itself.

I really admire his positive thinking. And his tenacity. It’s a daily, visual reminder that focus is vital.

Focus is vital to my progress with the various elements of paranormal romance novels I’m working on these days. There’s a lighter adventure nearly ready to send to beta readers. There’s a darker adventure I’ve been toying with.

And there’s Mira’s book too, the next 2096 paranormal romance adventure, in the very early brainstorming stage. You’ll find Mira in all of the 2096 novels and a short story featuring her and her soul mate is available at Night Owl Reviews free reads or when you sign up using the form there in the side bar.

See, there I go digressing again.

Focus has actually become a vital element for the paranormal romance novels I want to write. Because there are so many distractions, I set a timer and focus my creative energy for whatever time is available at that moment. Whether it’s fifteen minutes or three hours, that timer keeps me moving forward in the editing or writing stages.

So I spend focused time each day, with Maverick, at the desk my grandma gave me, crafting novels with urban fantasy and paranormal romance elements that I hope readers will continue to enjoy.

Live the adventure!

And please be sure to visit me at The Bookish Snob blog – today’s stop on the Tracking Shadows blog tour!

Time management is often a critical element in a storyline, primarily in thrillers or romantic suspense. But time management is an important element of paranormal romance novels too.

Particularly for the paranormal romance author.

Sure, paranormal romance authors think outside the box, but we shouldn’t languish there, forever dreaming and never writing or editing. Paranormal romance novels are a hot commodity in the retail world, with legions of diehard fans who want a little extra in their novels.

I’m not advocating throwing a few scenes of supernatural antics together, slapping a cover on it, calling it done, and rushing it into the market. I’m saying a paranormal romance author must manage their time, finding a balance between well-crafted stories and reader demand for quality books.

Paranormal Romance in an urban fantasy

We can’t all be Nora Roberts or Jayne Ann Krentz putting out books every few months under multiple pen names. Though they’d both tell you productivity boils down to putting in the writing time.

Each of us has different demands on our time and energy. However, we can be our best selves, putting our best effort on the page and into the promotion, if we manage our time wisely.

Time management is one key to developing the strong storylines and characters, both critical elements for paranormal romance novels. Not just the time line in the story arc, but the time line in the creative process.

I can get twice as much done in the mornings -creatively – than I can in the afternoons. Before noon, a 40 minute investment usually yields 600-1000 words in the rough draft. After 1pm though, it takes me a good hour to net 500 words. Some days I get a second wind after dinner and I run with it rather than ignore it. Oddly enough, if I’m writing ghosts, I like to do it after dark. Weird, but I obey the productive nudge when I can.

Still it takes time, discipline, and practice (especially with the distractions of the internet) to stay in the story and obey those elements of the paranormal romance novel in process.

To get your best story on the page, to incorporate the elements of the paranormal romance novel that set your story apart, you need to find that sweet spot. Know when you’re at your best for any given activity and try to use that time most effectively.

As motivation, think about the end point: the readers and fans who soak up all the unique variations and elements of paranormal romance novels we can deliver.

Live the adventure!

Time is running out for Slick Micky…dive into the latest 2096 adventure with Tracking Shadows!

As a paranormal romance author, or author of any genre really, how do you research what’s primarily in your head? Especially if you’ve ventured into a setting in the future?

For me, I turned my research efforts to the past. Odd, maybe, but then again when I was working on Justice Incarnate, the first paranormal romance novel in the Shadows of Justice series, I was also dealing with a reincarnated heroine. Pointing my research efforts back in time helped me assess how quickly inventions come and go and get replaced by new advancements and technology.

By the time I started on Tracking Shadows, I’d been working within my 2096 Chicago world for awhile. And yet, I still went back, not only to the previous books to keep the continuity straight with the elements of my paranormal romance novels, but also to find a catalyst for Micky’s character.

Specifically, why he would choose to be one of the most honorable men in smuggling, a business which thrives on exploitation.

Once again, I turned to Chicago’s history to find just the right elements of this paranormal romance novel. Though I’m not surprised people think of it as an urban fantasy with a paranormal element, but let’s skip that slippery slope for the moment.

When I consider the myriad possibilities of where this world might go in the future, it helps me to see where we’ve come from. Researching Chicago’s vivid history helps me expand the horizons in my fictional 2096. When I came across the accounts of Gypsy Smith’s famous evangelical march, I let my imagination wander over how those owners of ‘shady’ business in the notorious Levee might have been affected.

For Slick Micky’s family, Gypsy Smith’s march altered their owner mindset, creating a shift toward business practices that encouraged loyalty and improved the profit margin for everyone. While the necessary elements of paranormal romance novels present in Tracking Shadows stem primarily from Trina’s ability to induce deadly hallucinations, Slick Micky’s future is certainly dependent on how he interprets his past.

Live the adventure!

Be sure to check out the new Tracking Shadows and Contests and Fun Stuff pages here at the website for previews, giveaways and winner announcements!

In honor of the release of Tracking Shadows, I’m talking about some of the fun I’ve had with technology in my 2096 world.

For each of the books set in 2096, I’ve had the delightful experience of discovering some new element or advancement of technology. Writing into the future somehow sets my imagination free and writing with the barest sketch of a plotline only makes it more fun. For me. Don’t expect my critique partners to agree.

But that amazing sense of discovery is a real rush for me and the technology elements of the paranormal romance novel become as much of the adventure as, well the actual adventure of my characters.

With every book, I’ll be writing the rough draft and some heretofore unknown device pops itself onto the page. It’s so cool!

There was the moment when my husband was reading through Justice Incarnate and asked me where or how I’d dreamed up some new device. (that one is actually a sketch in the notes file) Thrilled he’d noticed, I asked him if it was real. He only replied that I very close. A super cool moment for me!

Then while writing Invasion of Justice, my poor husband got attacked the moment he came home from work one day. “Guess what happened?” I was bouncing around. Silly man, he thought it was something in the real world, when instead it was a new implanted tracking device my heroine had to remove from her hero’s arm.

Veil of Justice involved some serious mind game elements of the paranormal romance, among other things, and I loved discovering just what Nathan could accomplish with his telekineses (a ‘gift’ he’d acquired during an in vitro fertilization experiment).

And that brings us back to Tracking Shadows, in which Slick Micky, the smuggler who can deliver anything anytime anywhere, wouldn’t be nearly as effective (or cool) without a few bartering bonuses he’d picked up along the way.

Like the stealth suit. This imaginary device becomes ‘the’ techno element of this paranormal romance novel. A combination of bio-engineering and stealth technology this thing really gets a workout in Tracking Shadows and I love it! More importantly Micky loves it and uses it to protect his business and those who work with him.

Technology is just one fun element of the paranormal romance novels I write. Take one for a test drive today. Samples are available here, or through Amazon and Smashwords.

Live the adventure!

Whether you’ve written or read a great book, when you tell people about it, they often want a reference point: Some key information to know where to find the book or if it matches their taste in reading.

So how do you decide where a book fits – on a bookshelf or in the infinite virtual shelf space of ebooks?

When my first book, Justice Incarnate, came out in paperback in 2005 it had elements of several categories (sci-fi, thriller, romance, paranormal). The publisher and I had a challenge suggesting how bookstores should shelve it. Readers in all those genres liked the book, which was great, but it only made classification tougher.

The terms known today as ‘branding’ and ‘platform’ were just hitting the publishing scene. That was only six years ago.

Just a few years ago, most readers didn’t know or care what those terms meant, they just wanted to find a good book with elements they enjoyed. I think that’s just as true today, no matter how books are published. Readers want to find books with elements of paranormal romance or thriller elements, or whatever they turn to for entertainment.

But branding and platform have helped author define the key elements of their novels, paranormal or otherwise, that help readers find them.

If an author wrote about two consenting adults falling in love over coffee, it was a contemporary romance. A book about coffee loving vampires who fall in love, is clearly a paranormal romance novel. But the author who writes about a future where coffee is illegal and the heroine must dispatch a nasty demon with or without the aid of the man who had almost been her husband. Well… that’s a harder label to pin down.

As a reader I think it’s great when novels cross genres and incorporate elements of paranormal romance with the chills of mystery or suspense or even contemporary factors.

As my writing grew with my characters I chose to focus on the paranormal elements of my novels and branded myself a paranormal romance author so readers could find me more easily. Sure the Shadows of Justice series is set in the future (a future where real coffee is illegal) but that just adds to the adventure for readers who enjoy dark paranormal elements with a touch of romance.

Live the adventure!

Stay tuned for news about the May 10th release of Tracking Shadows, the latest novel from 2096!

And follow me on Facebook for giveaways and more!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you of Irish heritage or the desire to celebrate with fab food like Soda Bread, fish and chips, and green beer!

When my daughter was in Kindergarten the teachers honored St. Patrick’s day with “Lenny the Leprechaun”. He would pull all sorts of mischief throughout the day: moving chairs, turning snacks green, and leaving a trail of glitter in his wake and in turn the children would build traps, hoping to catch him. In honor of all the lighthearted fun and mischief to be had in fiction featuring Celtic lore, I decided to look at Celtic elements of paranormal romance novels.

Among the many things that come to mind when I think of Ireland, the rich storytelling traditions are at the top of the list. Many a paranormal romance author has capitalized (and rightly so) on the legends, both fun and frightening, that populate Celtic history and mythology.

One of my favorite Nora Roberts trilogies is the Gallagher trilogy set on the Irish coast in Ardmore. (Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon, and Heart of the Sea) You might not class this as a paranormal romance series, but with an original fairy tale featuring a lonely ghost and an irritable fae prince, it has definite Celtic elements of a paranormal romance novel.

By weaving the wistful local legend with the budding contemporary relationships, Roberts adds a layer of emotion, risk, and romance to an already romantic story.

Roberts has set many of her romance novels in Ireland, and connected many, many more to Ireland by family or legend, starting with her first published novel, Irish Thoroughbred. I find her use of Celtic elements for paranormal romance novels (whether you call them that or not) wonderfully entertaining. Before the Gallaghers, there were the Donovans (a family of various mystical talents) and one of my all time favorite single titles from Nora was the Three Fates.

Of course there are plenty of authors who use Celtic lore as an element of paranormal romance, but Roberts truly focuses on the Irish side of the coin.

Live the adventure!

There are so many elements that can turn a story into a paranormal novel with or without a romantic element.

But the emotional impact is what makes a reader, thoroughly engaged with a spooky story jump when the cat hops onto the chair, or tear up over a heartbreaking moment in a romance.

Emotion, or rather evoking emotion, is a key element of a paranormal romance novel. It’s the key that unlocks the many layers of entertainment most paranormal romance novels offer the reader.

Where do authors get the emotion to use it as a key element of paranormal romance novels?

Inside the author – you’ve probably heard authors say if the scene doesn’t make them cry/laugh/sigh their reader won’t either. They’re right, but that doesn’t mean you have to be unhappy, giddy, or floating down from a recent orgasm to write those scenes.

The key to putting that emotional element in the paranormal romance novel is being able to remember how you felt when that certain something did make you cry, laugh, or sigh.

Donald Maass discusses this in his books and workshops on writing, most recently in The Fire in Fiction. (if you haven’t picked it up, I highly recommend it.)

If someone cuts you off in the carpool lane and you’re just aggravated as hell, turn to that when someone steps on the toes of your kick-butt heroine or tortured hero. Did you clench your teeth, fist your hands on the wheel, or offer up some colorful metaphors?

What about that silly girl’s night out when you were laughing so hard you nearly spilled the wine?

Thinking back to those stand out moments helps paranormal romance authors. Life gives all of us a gold mine of emotion to draw on when we need to boost that emotional element of a paranormal romance novel.

So maybe I didn’t actually have an affair with a kilt-wearing ancient Scottish warrior, but I remember how safe I felt when my husband stood tall and protected me from someone determined to cause me pain.

Emotions are universal, key elements of paranormal romance novels that make the escape worth the time for the reader.

Live the adventure!

It takes practice and a certain level of confidence for a paranormal romance author to assume the reader’s understanding of specific elements of paranormal romance novels.

Practice in the sense that a writer has to spend time with the characters and the premise in order to be fully comfortable with the story. Practice, in this case, means more writing, editing, and revising. That practice then pays off in seamless storytelling, in presenting elements of paranormal romance novels with such convincing passion that the reader is swept away on the adventure.

The ideal result for paranormal romance readers and authors.

Confidence comes from all that practice. Real confidence in storytelling sprouts from knowing your characters and their gifts and challenges so intimately by the time the story is ready for the reader. The confidence of a paranormal romance author shows up on the page in the way all the elements of a paranormal romance novel work together for a reader’s enjoyment.

So what about the paranormal romance author’s assumption of reader understanding?

Again, practice breeds confidence in how paranormal romance authors strike the balance between assumption and explanation of all the things that go bump in the paranormal romance novel. Some authors believe an idea, concept, or tool has to be explained in depth when it first appears. Other authors believe the reader will understand through the context in which the elements of the paranormal romance novel are used.

Even paranormal romance authors who craft detailed, ongoing series must answer the question of reader assumption with each and every book. In a book with new characters, but similar elements (shape shifters, other worlds, etc.) the author must find a balance that doesn’t lose the reader, yet doesn’t interrupt the flow of the story.

Some paranormal romance authors use a glossary, maps, or an index of characters, places, tools, skills, etc. This helps readers bridge the knowledge gap that can occur between releases of books in a series. It’s important for paranormal romance authors to remember that even the favorite elements of paranormal romance novels can get blurry for a voracious reader who spends time with several authors each month.

Live the adventure!

Don’t wait! Enter the Paranormal Romance Guild‘s February Giveaway today!

Trust is an imperative element of paranormal romance novels.

The paranormal romance author trusts the reader to make the leap and the reader trusts the author to make it believable. As a reader who often indulges in historical romance for escape, Amanda Quick books are some of my favorites. I’m a big fan of the Arcane Society series written under all three names Quick/Krentz/Castle and in all three time periods.

An analyst could look at Krentz’s career and have enough for an in depth study of the various elements of paranormal romance novels from ‘psychical’ talents to sub culture to other worlds. But trust between the paranormal romance author and reader is evident in every one.

The first novel I read set on Castle’s world of Harmony wasn’t her first Harmony novel, but when I bumped into terms I didn’t know, I inferred from the context and trusted the author to deliver. I wasn’t disappointed.

Part of it comes down to timing, when and how the author chooses to explain a certain element of a paranormal romance novel.

When my husband and I were first married, we read a great deal of Tom Clancy. I confess I usually skimmed the passages about weaponry and the science behind it while my husband soaked up every word.

Now, as a paranormal romance author, I’ve found trusting my own instincts is a critical element of writing paranormal romance novels.  Do I explain a new toy or trick now or later? Every scene and situation is different, so the answer always comes down to creating the best experience for the reader.

During ‘the call’ for my first sale, Justice Incarnate, I considered it a huge compliment when the editor said, “I was worried the future world be too techie, but it’s not.” It was important to me that the futuristic elements of the paranormal romance novel didn’t take away from the story or characters.

It was high praise that I’d managed to earn the editor’s trust as a reader – so much so that she bought the book!

Live the adventure!

Visit the Paranormal Romance Guild today to register for the February Giveaway of all three Shadows of Justice novels!

I’ve often said the field is wide open when it comes to specific elements of paranormal romance novels. And I believe it! Paranormal romance authors have it easy – relatively – because we can make the impossible the norm.

There’s the mental/psychic elements of paranormal romance novels. I think Jayne Ann Krentz and her pseudonyms pull this one off with such smooth grace in the arc of a story, be it futuristic (Jayne Castle), contemporary, or historical (Amanda Quick).

The prize for slipping an element of paranormal into what seems to be a contemporary romance goes to Nora Roberts. Among other things, this magnificent storyteller often stirs ghostly encounters into the character’s journey, either as mentor or obstacle (or both). No surprise she’s the first female to reach 1 million sales on Kindle!

Shifters and vamps are as varied as “singular” elements of paranormal romance novels can be. Authors who tackle the vampire element of paranormal romance novels from a refreshing new angle range from well-known Meg Cabot to up and comer Lisa Phillips. When it comes to the shape shifter legends, I’m hooked on Virginia Kantra’s Children of the Sea series. She delivers a delightful twist on a tried and true element of paranormal romance novels.

Personally, in the Shadows of Justice series I discovered I like to play with the dark and edgy elements of paranormal romance novels. Not only do I let my characters toy with the future, many of them have boosted psychic powers as well, in the forms of telepathy or telekinesis. Jaden, the heroine of Justice Incarnate, even shares a debilitating bond with the current victims of the demon she’s been hunting for centuries.

During this fabulous National Book Blitz month of January, paranormal romance authors can have even more fun as we let readers know what delightful entertainment choices we have to offer with our wide open and widely varied elements of paranormal romance novels.

Live the adventure!