Recently, I started editing a book I wrote a number of years ago. I must say it was a little scary re-reading my early writing. I alternated between cringing and being pleasantly surprised. On the upside, after revisiting my old work I was able to see how I've grown as a writer. I'm going to invest some time and hopefully make it fit for public viewing eventually. However, the one thing that hasn't changed in all this time is my love of writing paranormal stories.
I love having the freedom to create my own world and make up my own rules. I love mixing reality and science with the seemingly impossible. As a reader I enjoy being drawn into strange new worlds whether they be just a few degrees off normal or a land far, far away. Getting swept up in exploring the mythology that another author has created is part of the fun. With the popularity of books like Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse series, I'm clearly not the only one enamored of this genre. For that matter the fact that you're reading this post here at Here Be Magic means I'm obviously not the only one in love with paranormal romance. However, as much as I enjoy a sexy shape shifter or dark and brooding vampire, there is one thing I like better.
I love stories about people with psychic abilities. Precognition, telekenesis, pyrokineses, whatever, I find all of it fascinating. I can't tell you how many times I reread Linda Howard's Dream Man or rewatched Firestarter or episodes of The Dead Zone. I figure the reason I enjoy stories about psychics so much is because they appeal both to my creative side as well as my inner science geek. The idea that there are amazing abilities hidden deep within untapped areas of the human brain is a cool concept. It gives me all types of inspiration. Prime example, one of my current WIPs involves a character with telekinetic abilities. He gets upset and things start flying around the room. I'm having fun writing it especially now that I'm getting into the action of the story and he'll get to use this ability to defend himself. Now that I've shown you mine, it's your turn.
What kind of paranormal stories do you like?
Who is on your must read list?
~Rayna
Did you ever read Lois Duncan when you were growing up? She had a bunch of paranormal books for teens that I loved..psychics, astral projecting evil twins, legacy magic. I loved those when I was younger and would love to see similar books for adults.
ReplyDeleteThe only book of hers that I recall reading is I Know What You Did Last Summer. Read it long before it became a movie and I really loved it. Shame that I missed all the other ones though. I did however read a ton of Christopher Pike books. He wrote this one book called The Witch that I absolutely loved. In fact, I think it's what got me started with my love of paranormal.
ReplyDeleteI love LOVE shifters and my "immediate must reads" are Patricia Briggs and Nalini Singh...also like the latter's Archangel series. But I'm pretty happy to read just about anything in the paranormal genre. Always looking for new authors to add to the list!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the ones where the lead characters have psychic abilities also. Especially pyrokinesis - there's just something about fire that fascinates me. I also love it when they have the power to control the other elements - water, air, earth. I also love stories about people with power over the weather, and I'm partial to healers. Basically, though, I like just about any kind of paranormals with the exception of zombies.
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