Paranormal Warriors

hmmm hero with a sword

There is something very attractive about a man who knows how to use a sword ;)

The warrior is a type of hero who often graces the pages of paranormal romances, and with good reason. Aside from being fit, he is willing to do anything to get the job done (be it saving the world or defeating evil)—as long as it fits within his code of honor. 

He has duty and honor—what’s not to love about him?
In paranormal romances he is usually the paranormal part of the romance. Vampire, shapeshifter, goblin…not exactly the kind of guy that the heroine would take home to meet the family (assuming her family haven’t all somehow been killed, but the orphaned heroine is a whole other blog post). 

The paranormal is attractive because of its otherness as well as the sense of danger. The hero is often in need of taming and his moral code doesn’t always align with a humans.

My fairies in The Court of Annwyn series are very different to humans in what they think is acceptable behaviour, but they will never lie as that is seen as weak and showing a distinct lack of skill. They also avoid falling in love because it is seen as risk and their lover could be used against them (this of course means that when they do fall in love everything gets 10x worse).

There is something to else to think about when writing the warrior hero and that is the need to heal. At some point the warrior has to lay down his sword and say enough. 

Roan in The Goblin King did just that. The curse was taking over and he was done. Sometimes the biggest battle is not with an outside enemy but within and if he’d kept fighting he would’ve become 100% goblin.

For the Love of a Goblin Warrior touched on one final important issue when thinking about warrior heroes, something that after decades of conflict in the real world is becoming a very real challenge for many soldiers: post-traumatic stress disorder.

After fighting and witnessing countless horrors (and in paranormal romance this can literally be hell) there needs to be a recognition that this leaves a mark. For Meryn in For the Love of a Goblin Warrior that meant facing up to the death of his family and the destruction of his tribe at the hands of the Romans and trying to work through it so that he could live again. He’s had a couple of thousand years as a goblin to really let it sink in, but being goblin has also changed him and left a wound. 

While a warrior hero might be great in a fight, and he will achieve his goal or quest, it is important to remember that beneath the armor and the fierce expression there is a heart. If he’s too broken inside he won’t be able to fall in love (and love really can't fix everything). 

However he has to be a little bit broken otherwise he’d too boringly perfect. 

As with any romance hero, beauty is in the eye of the heroine (or the other hero). As long as they see the hero as worthy of love the reader will too no matter what creature he is or what he has done or the scars he bears (visible or not).

Writing What You Want to Understand

Every other year or so, I pull all my Austen novels off the shelf and indulge in an binge, complete with all the notes I wrote in the margins during college. At the moment, I’m on Sense and Sensibility, one of her less well-loved books. The happy ending, especially for the passionate Marianne, never feels wholly satisfying. The classic (or perhaps clichéd) spirited young women ends up marrying the stable and sedate older man she once disdained, subverting all the emotional intensity that made her fascinating. As I was reading the critical notes in the introduction (have I mentioned I’m a nerd?), I noticed the following gem: “Austen’s ending reads like a covert acknowledgement that the problem she set out to explore—the antagonism between social norms and individual personality–really has no definitive solution, or at least no happy one.”*

It’s often repeated that as writers we should write what we know, but I think a more satisfying strategy is to write what we want to understand. It’s the things that bother and intrigue me, the things I want to explore, that keep me up at night and drive me to write. Each book in my Shadowminds series has been, in a way, an attempt to understand what it means to find a home for yourself, usually where you least expect it. As a Southerner who’s been transplanted on the West Coast, the sense of displacement and the search for family among strangers are struggles I hold close to my heart.

Austen was clearly fascinated with the tensions between individual desire and social norms, and I think that fascination is what makes her books endure. The opposing forces that anchor those tensions might be in different places now, but they’re no less present. Most of the books that stay with me are those that try to understand enduring human problems, whether it’s something as lofty as the price of power or as mundane as family bonds. (I’m thinking of the Harry Potter series and Cecilia Grant’s Blackshear trilogy of historical romances.) What books do you think try to understand something timeless?

*Paul Montazzoli, Introduction to Sense and Sensibility, 1996

A.J. Larrieu is a Louisiana native and the author of the Shadowminds series, sexy urban fantasy set in New Orleans. She lives in San Francisco with her family and too many books.

November Craziness

I didn’t initially sign up for nanowrimo this year. I’m in the middle of the first draft of Enslaved by Angels book three of my What-if-aliens-invaded-in-1210 AD? series and it hasn’t been going particularly fast. My modest goal has been to write 1000 words per day and finish sometime in November. (I’m at 46,000 words right now with probably 20,000 to go.) I’m not under any deadline pressure, so there seemed no need to nano.

Yet on Monday, November 3^rd, I signed up anyway--for an entirely different novel. Craaazy.

Do I intend to keep working on Enslaved by Angels? Yes. In fact, it will remain the Do-first priority.

Do I intend to count both wordcounts? No.

Do I have any chance of winning? Probably not.

So why am I doing this? To answer that, I have to back up a step and give you a little history. You see, back in 2001 Simon & Schuster published two YA SF books of mine: Violet Eyes and Silver Eyes. Book one did moderately well, earning a second printing, book two not so well. The publisher chose not to buy a third book in the series and books one and two went out of print. 

That would normally have been the end of matters, but for ebooks and the self-publishing revolution. Both Violet Eyes and Silver Eyes are still available as ebooks and after years of nothing, I starting receiving (small) royalty checks again. And I noticed that most of my ‘fans’ on my Facebook page were in fact fans of this particular series.

 So I dusted off the old first draft of book three and started working on it every Monday--the only time I had to spare. I ran a feature on my Facebook page called  Mike and Angel Monday. And last July I self-published Angel Eyes. A few months ago, I started plotting out book four in the same way, committing to at least one hour every week.

And that’s the book that I started on Monday, two days late, for nanowrimo. To my stunned surprise I got down 1500 words (in addition to the 1200 I put down on Enslaved). Whether it’s due to the creativity shift Sonya Clark spoke about or the fact that I know and love these characters so well, it’s flowing. And I want to keep up that flow, not wait until Monday again, so I’m now officially doing two first drafts in the same month.

Craziness, I know. But also fun.

Anyone else out there doing nanowrimo on a whim?

Scent of Valor

It's finally available!  Scent of Valor, book 2 of the Chronicles of Eorthe. 

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Courage blooms in the meekest of hearts.

After spending twenty years trapped in her civil body, Kele can finally shift into feral form. By tooth and claw, she’s determined to climb the Payami pack hierarchy.

Her parents plan to mate her with a hunter from a rival pack, but her heart’s already been stolen by the most unsuitable wolf possible—Peder, an omega male. She’d gladly give him her body except he’s disappeared from her life. Maybe into the thieving arms of another female.

Peder has spent every moment of their forced separation training to be a hunter. When he hears of her arranged marriage, he fears he’s waited too long to trespass back onto Payami lands to fight for her hand—but he damned well isn’t giving up.

On his journey to confront Kele, Peder is attacked and wakes in a cage, helpless as a band of vampires attack Kele’s mating party. Separated by social standing, thrown together by tragedy, they must work together to survive. And find out if their attraction is merely puppy love, or a bond that’s stronger than time.

Warning: This book contains an omega male who’s done submitting and a hunter female who isn’t used to needing anyone to come to her rescue. Violence ensues, not for the faint of heart.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Excerpt:

Sorin opened the gate. “Beat him to the ground,” were his parting words as Peder raced out into the forest.

Pale coral of dawn light outlined the mountain tops as he climbed the pass leading to Temple lands. He’d arrive before the mating parties and rest. Maybe even wash in a stream. He’d stand tall in the center of the Temple until both packs arrived. It was easier if he pretended to act like a hunter than to truly think he was one. With enough practice, maybe one day those lines would blur.

The sun hung just above the horizon, blazing with a hint of summer, as Peder descended the mountain. He turned around a sharp corner of the trail and stumbled upon a band of males. Digging his claws in the dirt, he came to a sudden halt. The wind blew in the wrong direction for him to have scented these vampires. No one should be on this part of the pass. It was still Apisi land.

Had Benic finally decided to kill him off? It seemed too cowardly for the vampire; he would prefer to sink his blade in Peder’s back personally. Besides, these bloodsuckers didn’t wear Benic’s colors.

They drew their weapons.

He backed away. “You’re on Apisi pack land.”

One of them laughed. “Shifters don’t own land. This is Lord Benic’s forest last I heard.” He spoke with a thick lilting accent.

“You’re not from his castle.” The cliff walls on each side of him were too steep to run and if he climbed, the vampires with bows would find him a fine target.

“No, we’re not.” The leader chuckled. “And you have rather pretty fur.”

His men fanned out around him.

Peder’s racing heart stopped. They wanted his fur? He scrambled backward but the loose soil under his claws made it difficult to gain any distance. Panic didn’t help either. Shifters were stronger than vampires, but there were four of them and only one of him. What were they going to do with his fur?

“Easy, mate. We ain’t going to hurt you,” one of the closer bloodsuckers said. “We’ll get a fine bag of gold for this one.”

Peder rose on his hind legs and snarled like Sorin had taught him. His fur stood on end along his spine.

“Don’t let him escape,” shouted a vampire as he pulled a blowgun from his belt.

Peder swiped his claws at the vamp that wanted him for gold. Something stung his neck. He clapped a hand over the spot and pulled out a thin dart.

Dog shit, not again. His knees turned to water and he kissed dirt.

Here Be News

New Releases

The fourth and final book in the McCauley Brothers series

WHAT IS WITH MIKE McCAULEY?
Every time Delilah Webster runs into Mike McCauley, he practically bites her head off. The rough-and-tumble contractor clearly has baggage. Del has her own emotional scars and knows she’s better off keeping her distance, but Mike’s temptation in jeans and a T-shirt and she’s always been good with her hands…

There’s something about the strong-willed mechanic that sets Mike’s motor running–and scares the hell out of him. Mike has loved and lost and will never hurt like that again, even if that means walking away from a woman who makes him feel alive for the first time in years.

When a simple kiss turns hot and heavy, Mike discovers he can’t stay away, no matter how certain he is they’re destined to crash and burn…

Get it today! 

 
The latest Calendar Men story from Decadent Publishing: 

TWO IMPERFECT PEOPLE CAN BE PERFECT FOR ONE ANOTHER.

Appearing in a benefit calendar may have been the dumbest thing veteran Sig Nowicki ever did. Suddenly, he’s become his small town’s golden boy, and he doesn’t much like being in the spotlight. Mostly he needs a job, now that his military career was ended by a grenade.

Pet shop owner Elsie Jordan came to Michigan to start over. She’s attracted to Sig and doesn’t give a rip about his scars, but the ones she carries inside her heart are the real hurdle. She just isn’t sure she has it in her to love and trust, ever again.

Elsie and Sig set out to boost each other’s confidence and finally give in to their explosive passion. The entire town seems happy to help. But both of them need to come to grips with their imperfections and accept that they might just be perfect for each other.

 Get it today! 

 Other News

Marie Harte is participating in an 8 author Facebook Event to celebrate the release of Five Alarm Alphas on November 7th. So come on by to win some great prizes and celebrate the new release. 

Cindy Spencer Pape will have a full-length paranormal novel out from Ellora's Cave on November 26. Look for Sea Change to find out more about what happens when a marine biologist encounters sexy merfolk.

Experimenting with NaNo

For the first time in several years, I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month. Having done it three times in the past and won once, it wasn't something I thought I'd be doing again. The timing doesn't usually work out for me, for one thing. This year I decided to try my hand at something different, at just the right time to participate in NaNoWriMo.

Paranormal is all I've ever written. It'll always be my favorite genre, my home in fiction. Firewall, the last volume in the Magic Born trilogy, was one of the hardest books I've written so far. It took a lot out of me. I was already fighting burnout but after finishing Firewall, I was crispy-fried. I've worked on several things since then but finally decided that I needed to try something different. This article - Why You Need A Creative Shift Instead Of A Vacation, As Explained By Joss Whedon - had a lot to do with my decision. I didn't want to take an extended break from writing, but it was clear I needed to do something to overcome the feeling of burnout. So I'm making a creative shift and trying something radically different from what I usually write - a small town contemporary. No magic, no riots, no danger - of the physical kind, at least. Just two people trying to find their way toward each other. I'm absolutely terrified, and that fear has me strangely eager to write.

And yes, it does feel a bit like crossing over to the dark side, but I'm also really excited at the prospect of challenging myself. I don't want to be a one-genre pony. If I'm going to try something so different from what I normally write, why not do it during NaNo? All the hoopla might give me the motivation I need to get past my anxiety and just write. It makes it easier to think of this as a fun experiment than a do-or-die manuscript. If it works, then I've learned how to write in a different genre. If it doesn't, well, there's only thirty days in November.

Are you participating in NaNo this year? What genre are you writing in, and is it your usual genre?



Learn more about the author at www.sonyaclark.net.

Heroines can be mothers too

Have you ever noticed that women in starring roles in SF/F are rarely mothers?

It’s more common in romance and mystery to be sure. I regularly see mentions of romances where the heroine is pregnant (generally in a scenario where she doesn’t want to let the hero find out that he is in fact the father), or where she’s a single mother raising a child (often a precocious youngster or an angsty teen). And over in mystery, one of my favorite current series (the Crowther and Westerman books by Imogen Robertson) features a heroine who’s a mother and a widow.

Science fiction and fantasy, though, it’s way harder to find women—or for that matter, men—who are both protagonists and parents. It’s not entirely unheard of, mind you. I can think of exactly one example on my own shelves off the top of my head that features  a heroine who’s a mother: the Raven duology by Patricia Briggs. And while I haven’t managed to read Scott Lynch yet, I’m given to understand that he’s got a female pirate in his books who also has children.

But the simple fact that I have to work to think of examples is pretty much my point. By the very nature of the genre, it slants towards young protagonists. Some of this is age bias; Western culture doesn’t tend to imagine people older than, say, their mid-thirties in the starring roles of the sorts of plots likely to show up in an SF/F novel. There’s the question of SF/F plots frequently being action-heavy, and a lot of folks don’t tend to envision people in their forties or older in starring roles in an action-heavy plot. And there’s the question of love stories as well. While I do regularly see romances acknowledging that people who’ve already got a history with prior relationships and even children can in fact have interesting love stories, this is not nearly as common in SF/F.

All of which I mention because I myself am not a young author anymore, as I’m heading into my upper forties. Nor am I likely to ever be a parent. But despite this, I’m finding myself becoming more interested in writing about women who are mothers.

I’ve got two characters important to the Rebels of Adalonia books who have on-camera children. There’s Khamsin, who first shows up in Valor of the Healer, and who has a four-year old daughter and a son barely old enough to walk. And there’s Margaine, with a newborn daughter. Neither of these women are the main protagonists, but they are vital to the overall plot. In some ways they are interesting to me in ways that my heroine Faanshi can’t be, just because Faanshi’s still very young and doesn’t have the history of establishing a family that Khamsin and Margaine do.

One more woman vital to the overall arc of the Rebels of Adalonia books is Ealasaid, ruler of the country of Adalonia. Ealasaid is old, and therefore certainly has had plenty of time to preside over multiple generations of her family. She doesn’t quite fit into the pattern, since she’s an antagonist in the story rather than a protagonist. Nonetheless, she’s another important character who has in fact had her family life—and the impact her own choices as queen have had upon it—be a critical part of the story.

What about you, readers? What are your favorite stories, of any genre, that feature a protagonist or a major supporting character with children—mothers or fathers? Let me know in the comments!

Angela Highland, a.k.a. Angela Korra'ti, is the author of the Rebels of the Adalonia trilogy from Carina Press, and the Free Court of Seattle series as well. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter, or come say hi to her at angelahighland.com.