I was lucky enough to stumble upon this guest post at SF Signal this morning by Kim Harrison - Kim Harrison Says 'Excuse Me, You Got Your Romance In My Urban Fantasy' . It is an intelligent and articulate look at the difference between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance genre writing. Kim is the talented author of the New York Times Bestselling Hallows series, a nine book series with the latest being Pale Demon.
I recently discovered the series. I had seen her books before at Barnes and Noble and had been intimidated by the sheer number of them. I love a series but I didn't know where to start. After taking a class and hearing how wonderful they were I downloaded the first one onto my Kindle and the rest was history. I devoured them. The books are amazing. Kim's world building is fantastic. There is never a cliche and she's not afraid to beat up on her protagonist :)
But she does write Urban Fantasy and not Paranormal Romance and that is the lesson today. She didn't just throw in some pixies, werewolves and vampires to sell it in the trending market like so many these days. She's created deep characters with real histories not the two dimensional ones we get in most romances. And for that we love you Kim. Tink's Contractual Hell, write another book soon!
I recently discovered the series. I had seen her books before at Barnes and Noble and had been intimidated by the sheer number of them. I love a series but I didn't know where to start. After taking a class and hearing how wonderful they were I downloaded the first one onto my Kindle and the rest was history. I devoured them. The books are amazing. Kim's world building is fantastic. There is never a cliche and she's not afraid to beat up on her protagonist :)
But she does write Urban Fantasy and not Paranormal Romance and that is the lesson today. She didn't just throw in some pixies, werewolves and vampires to sell it in the trending market like so many these days. She's created deep characters with real histories not the two dimensional ones we get in most romances. And for that we love you Kim. Tink's Contractual Hell, write another book soon!
Well said, Jessica! I picked up two of her books because of that class (I think it was the same one, wink, wink) and I loved them. . .but the romance element was lacking.
ReplyDelete@Karysa The romance picks up as the books go along. It gets a little hot and heavy at times ;o) Just love those books. She just sent her next one to her editor, but says she is wrapping up the Hollows series. I don't know how many more books she will do. I hope at least one more than this next one. I am seriously jonesing. I really recommend the rest of the series.
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