As anyone who knows me knows, I have always had a love for anything imaginative. Magicians, odd creatures, mythical swords and kings and queens, Arthurian, Space, Avalon, Alderon, Hobbiton, dude, I am so there! 🙂 So if you were looking for me in a movie theater or at the library or bookstore, the Fantasy flicks and shelves were the best place to go. There’s a certain openness to the fantasy field that doesn’t exist in other genres where almost anything seems to go. (I say almost because that openess seems a little narrower sometimes). The magic elements didn’t really start to blend into the romance genre (or not so much) until the last ten years or so, especially with the advent of “paranormal” romance. And when the fantasy genre began narrowing to the City Streets of Modern Life the romance genre seemed wide open—witness the strange worlds, magic, and stellar adventure of C.L. Wilson, Elissa Wilds, Tammy Kane and Susan Kearney, Kim Knox and Linnea Sinclair, just to name a few—where everything from Elves and Orcs to aliens (and yeah, sometimes werewolves and vampires) rule, and fall in love. This is where the descendants of the Fantasy and SF greats have made their homestead these days: The romance shelves.

Who could’ve guessed? 🙂

Undoubtedly this is why, even when I attempt to write without strict adherence to SF/Fantasy tropes, and set my stories in real worlds, real timelines, real history and realistic situation (see my “romantic mysteries”, something paranormal always seems to creep in, however subtly. 🙂

So that’s what draws me to paranormal romance/fantastical elements, and why I still enjoy these types of stories. What about you?