Let me back up a second and explain something. By day I’m a mild-mannered journalist, surrounded by other writers in a newspaper newsroom, except now we don’t call it a newsroom. We call it an information center because the Internet reigns supreme in all the things, even newspapers. Here’s the thing about my experience with other journalists who write for a living. They’re a brutally judgmental bunch when it comes to “fiction” writers. Unless you write the type of literary fiction that gets considered for the Pulitzer Prize, you can expect to endure somewhat-veiled disgusted ewwwww looks when you tell them you write genre fiction. Followed by an upturned nose and quick removal from your company. It doesn't matter that a good selection of them probably write fiction themselves in their spare time. Appearances, you know?
So, there I was chatting with a colleague the other day about my books. Because of the above reaction, I typically don’t advertise that I also write fiction, but it’s a newsroom, so once you’ve told one person, everyone finds out eventually. Surprisingly, I didn’t suffer from the ewwww look followed by an awkward departure. Instead, she leaned closer and admitted, “Oh, I loved ‘Twilight. It’s my guilty pleasure. Is that the kind of paranormal romance you write?”
“Well, no,” I said, somewhat bemused. Only the people reading this can probably understand why I was bemused.
The general population always assumes paranormal romance means A) vampires or B) werewolves. But all of us here know much better than that.
I proceeded to explain my books — which I always describe as quirky paranormal romance mysteries involving psychic detectives with ghosts and pets thrown in for good measure.
“That sounds awesome!” she exclaimed.
Honestly, I did not know how to respond to this because I am so used to the pretentious response I normally get from fellow reporters. I might have blacked out. I think I glanced around, looking for hidden cameras. I’m honestly not sure.
This launched us into a conversation about all things paranormal romance, leading my colleague to say, “I remember reading something online a while back saying the paranormal romance genre was dead. I don’t believe that.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because it’s the best way to escape this crazy world we live in,” she said rather intuitively. “I can’t think of a better way to suspend my disbelief than to visit magical lands where supernatural things exist. Let’s face it. We all need to escape this crazy world we live in right now. I’ll take vampires, werewolves and ghosts over hurricanes, wildfires, and politicians any day.”
And that, my friends, is why I think paranormal romance will never die.
So, there I was chatting with a colleague the other day about my books. Because of the above reaction, I typically don’t advertise that I also write fiction, but it’s a newsroom, so once you’ve told one person, everyone finds out eventually. Surprisingly, I didn’t suffer from the ewwww look followed by an awkward departure. Instead, she leaned closer and admitted, “Oh, I loved ‘Twilight. It’s my guilty pleasure. Is that the kind of paranormal romance you write?”
“Well, no,” I said, somewhat bemused. Only the people reading this can probably understand why I was bemused.
The general population always assumes paranormal romance means A) vampires or B) werewolves. But all of us here know much better than that.
I proceeded to explain my books — which I always describe as quirky paranormal romance mysteries involving psychic detectives with ghosts and pets thrown in for good measure.
“That sounds awesome!” she exclaimed.
Honestly, I did not know how to respond to this because I am so used to the pretentious response I normally get from fellow reporters. I might have blacked out. I think I glanced around, looking for hidden cameras. I’m honestly not sure.
This launched us into a conversation about all things paranormal romance, leading my colleague to say, “I remember reading something online a while back saying the paranormal romance genre was dead. I don’t believe that.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because it’s the best way to escape this crazy world we live in,” she said rather intuitively. “I can’t think of a better way to suspend my disbelief than to visit magical lands where supernatural things exist. Let’s face it. We all need to escape this crazy world we live in right now. I’ll take vampires, werewolves and ghosts over hurricanes, wildfires, and politicians any day.”
And that, my friends, is why I think paranormal romance will never die.
***
Angela Campbell is the author of the psychic detectives series from Harper Impulse. Learn more about her and her books at www.AngelaCampbellOnline.com.
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