Examining Paranormal Romance

Being a person who loves to over-analyze any given situation, I thought it would be fun to pick apart the paranormal romance genre as a whole. So excuse me while I give into the left side of my brain (which, by the way, battles tirelessly with the right side of my brain on a daily basis).

To begin with, the paranormal romance genre is so broad it could be split up into an infinite number of new genres. Why do I think this? Because the word “paranormal” has such a broad meaning.

According to http://www.dictionary.com/, paranormal means:

–adjective

of or pertaining to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation, as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena.

That’s a pretty general definition. To get a better idea, all I have to do is look at the list of authors who contribute to this blog. Each brings their own imagination to the paranormal romance genre to create stories about:

-Time travel
-Ghosts
-Werewolves
-Vampires
-Shape shifters
-Mythology
-Psychic abilities
-Angels
-Demons
-Futuristic space travel
-Witches, Sorcerers, and Warlocks
-I’m sure I’m missing several so go ahead and shout it out if you think of more. The left side of my brain welcomes it.

Of these, there are immeasurable possibilities to create even more types of supernatural phenomena. Why? Because paranormal fiction has no guidelines, no boundaries, and absolutely no limit to the worlds an author can create.

Charlaine Harris, one of my favorite authors, gives a perfect example with her Southern Vampire Series. She’s built a vivid parallel universe where vampires exist alongside humans. To add to that, she went on to bring in shapeshifters, werewolves, fairies, and witches. Her books are rich with mystery and the unknown, and it keeps me turning the pages and wanting more.

I suppose these are the reasons I love to both read and write paranormal romance and fantasy. There’s no end to what my imagination can come up with… which gives the left side of my brain a reason to relax and allow the right side of my brain to run away with the ghosts, angels, demons, or whatever else I want to write about that day.

So what is your favorite genre inside the paranormal romance genre?

Viola

http://www.violaestrella.com/
www.myspace.com/violaestrella

BEWITCHING YOU – Coming soon from the Wild Rose Press
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ANGEL VINDICATED – Coming soon from Cerridwen Press