Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Creep Factor

It takes a little bit of a dark side to write a paranormal romance. You have to push the limits of a regular romance into the odd and unexpected. Its more than just writing a vampire or werewolf novel, readers expect to read something new and exciting. You have to weave a dark and twisted tale to keep the reader interested. Because if you don’t you fall into the category of just another vampire or werewolf tale. They want a new spin on the old traditional creatures and I don’t blame them. When I read a paranormal novel that takes the same basic creatures and turns them into something I never expected, curiosity draws me in.

Examples:

A vampire that faints at the sight of blood.

Vampires that are from Atlantis.

Vampires that drink only bagged blood.

Demons that run a demon hospital.

Vampires that can go out in the sun.

Demons that fight for good and not evil.

These are just a few that take the mundane and change it up to keep it interesting.

I am asked all the time where did you come up with that idea. The problem with answering that question is I don’t really have a good straightforward answer. Usually I just say from the dark recesses of my mind. I definitely have a dark side to my mind. I really enjoy the creep factor and that is the reason I write paranormals. I love to watch horror movies and thrive on the moments that make you jump. One of my crit partners is always telling me, “it’s a great story but really creepy.” When I hear that, I get overjoyed because I have done my job well.

One of my favorite parts of writing paranormals is the fact that there are no set rules. Your characters can be anything you want them to be. How can someone tell you your wrong when you are writing about mythic creatures? You are only limited by your imagination. The only rules you have to follow are the ones you apply to your story. You can’t tell the reader one thing and then halfway through tell them something different. Then you loose the reader but this goes for all stories. A reader wants consistency. They need balance to the story to make it believable and yes, even a paranormal needs to be believable. Your characters need to be consistent through out the story or readers start to question you as a writer.

My favorite part of writing isn’t what you would think it is. Most would say it is all about writing the dark but sexy hero or heroine. Well for me it is all about the resident evil in my books. I love to write the vile bad guy, I thrive on his dastardly deeds. I’m not sure what that says about me. HaHa! The evilness just flows from my mind to the keyboard and I tend to write the bad guy well. My bad guys are some of the vilest people that you would ever meet. They live to destroy and have no mercy for anyone. It is somewhat scary I guess I have a true dark and demented side that comes out in my work. Nevertheless, I think all authors are just a little twisted. How do you explain the stories we weave? Not everyone is capable of telling a tale like we do and some of us are just more twisted than others. I fall into the more twisted than others category. On a scale of one to ten, I would be a twelve. Of all the genres to write this is the only one I want to ever write. I feel joy when I weave a great paranormal tale. Now that we have journeyed through the dark corners of my mind and you know the creepy side of Tabitha, I hope you come back next week for more. If you dare to delve deeper into what makes me tick.

Happy Reading and Writing,

Tabitha Blake

4 comments:

Brenda said...

I never knew you were so dark and twisted, Tabitha. Though you do write a mean villian. The villian in your latest WIP is not only demented, but he is sexy as hell.

Tabitha Blake said...

Yeah, not sure I should have admitted that but I guess it's just the way I am wired. LOL A little twisted is just me. I can write one hell of a creepy bad guy, with a touch of sexy. But if you ask me if you don't have a really good bad guy I get board. I need lots of conflict and drama to keep me interested. I think I am just hard to please and a tough critic. Glad to open my twisted head to the masses. HeeHee!

Emma Paul said...

Nothing wrong with being a little twisted, that's why we get along so well....LOL

Great Blog BTW

Emma

Tabitha Blake said...

Twisted minds think a like. LOL Scary thought. One twisted mind is okay but put two together and I shutter at the thought. HeeHee! But I think all paranormal writers have a dark side or we wouldn't be writing the darker side of the romance genre. Glad you enjoyed the trip through the cobwebs in my mind.