Deja vu all over again

Have you been to Barnes & Noble or Amazon online lately? Scrolled through the endless lists of paranormal books coming out this year? Holy moly.

Take a look at the covers. Then read the blurbs. I’m a fan, don’t get me wrong. I wonder, however, when enough will be enough. I’m done for a while. I love Ward and Keri Arthur and lots of writers. But I’m ready for something new.

The blurbs are starting to morph for me into the same one: “She doesn’t know that the man she’s come to love is the demon she’s sworn to destroy…” or some such.

Companies seem to be running out of image ideas as well. Some are lovely, but if you squint, well… there’s a guy, he’s shirtless and has shoulder-length dark hair, maybe a sword or something, with a city behind him. I counted about ten of those.

What’s new in paranormal? I mean, really, really new? A very fresh idea, a very fresh voice? I’m dying for something different! Any suggestions?

Writing (and Reading) Through Tragedy

If you’d indulge me for a moment, I’m changing course today. In the past few days, we’ve been flooded with some very painful images, and of course it brings to mind other recent and not-so-recent tragedies.

We all have ways of coping, whether it’s the loss of a loved one, or the more distant feelings of loss for people we never met.

I’ve never been good at writing while I’m upset. I can’t even read fiction when I’m troubled. Later on, however, I note that tragic themes can surface in my writing. September 11 figures in Princes of Anfall. Flooding figures in Lords of Ch’i.

Besides helping ourselves, how can we help others? After all, we’re just romance writers, right? And romance readers, right? But we’re a community, and communities can do a lot when they band together. Offer solace, talk, chat, blog, instant message, show compassion, reach out.

REACH OUT. Do you know someone who is depressed, suffering a loss, overwhelmed by television images, upset about Don Imus, whatever… And perhaps, if you’re a writer, you can find a way to tell an important story, no matter how cloaked in mystery, romance, or comedy.

Ghostbusting

I’m always fascinated by my own ability to put aside everything I believe in to write a “ghost” story, for want of a better term. I’m one of the unbelievers. Gasp! Although I come from a long line of psychics (maybe they meant psychos?), my own psi abilities are laughable. I don’t believe in no ghosts, vampires, werethings of any variety, aliens…name it, I’m a skeptic.

Ah, but I do struggle with my belief in the afterlife. So my books are often full of the divine–and I’ve been caught using the dreaded device of having a god or goddess sweep in and either mess things up or save the day.

Sometimes, I tread on dangerous ground. Holy ground. Saints who counsel sinners, ghosts bargaining with guardian angels (Ghosts of Key West coming soon). It’s the Irish Catholic tongue-in-cheek part of me.

Recently, a certain “laughing” reviewer noted in her review of Mayan Nights that all five of the books she’s read of mine are paranormal, and quite different from one another. I hadn’t really tagged myself as a paranormal writer. I simply write things that interest me. The divine. Things beyond the veil. They don’t bite, have no fur, perhaps a little magical power (I don’t do magick with a “k”). My fantasies are paranormal (all fantasies are not paranormal of course).

Thus, after three years of figuring out what the common thread in my writing is–I had to wait for a reviewer to point it out to me: erotic paranormal romance. And the “not norm” part of paranormal suits me fine. I’ve always felt a certain “otherness” in my life, even though I don’t

see dead people. But I’d like to!

I’m not really going anywhere with this post am I? Just a wee introduction to Ciar Cullen.