RT Booklovers Convention start on April 6th and if you’re going to be in Los Angeles, you won’t want to miss it. We paranormal fans are getting some series RT love with several dedicated panels including URBAN FANTASY: Keeping Romance Hot in an Urban Fantasy Series which features Nicole Peeler, author of the Jane True series (right now you can take advantage of the crazy low price of $2.99 for TEMPEST RISING, the first book in the series). Nicole is now going to tell us how she keeps her UF romance hot. Click HERE to see where else Nicole will be at this years convention.
ATUF: How do you keep the romance hot in your Jane True series?
NP: I've tried to keep things hot by remembering to have fun with the sex and the romance. They're fun scenes to write, and I know I love reading these types of scenes. So I try to keep that sense of joy and exploration that I think makes for great romance.
ATUF: What scene in your series best epitomizes how you keep your series hot?
NP: I think that, for right now, it's a scene in my third book where two of the characters are still very much feeling each other out, rather than up. Nothing's really happened between them, yet. But the male in question pulls the female in question's hair in this really sexy way, that's sort of random and hot. It's a lot sexier in context, I swear. Out of context it sounds a bit like a wrestling match, admittedly. ;-)
ATUF: How important is romance in the Urban Fantasy genre?
NP: I think it totally depends on the author and their vision of their world and their character. My main character is half-selkie, which is a myth of seal-shapeshifters. Seals aren't the most action-packed of animals, and the myths themselves show selkies as quite hedonistic. So I wanted my character to have that element to her--she's very sexual and very into things that give her pleasure. Therefore, in my series, romance was very important. But there are awesome UFs out there, in which there's no romance or sex. I think that's the great thing about UF--there's something for everyone.
ATUF: Do you see romance growing in the genre overall or diminishing?
NP: I think some people do admit to feeling pressure to write sex, because it is rather prevalent. But like with all pressures, there's always a backlash. My personal take is we should all write what interests us, and what we're good at. I like writing sex and romance, and I'm interested in issues of power and sexuality in our culture. While these are my interests, however, they're not everyone's, and I'd rather see other authors writing what intrigues them.
ATUF: How do you distinguish between urban fantasy and paranormal romance? How important is that distinction?
NP: I think the distinction is best defined by how much emphasis is given the romance, in terms of the plot. For example, in my fourth book, the romance has to take a backseat to the action of the plot. If I were writing para rom, however, I'd be sure to keep that romance simmering despite the action of the plot. A great example of people who do this really well are Nalini Singh and Jeaniene Frost. Both writers have really complicated, really intense plots, but we always see the importance of the romance to that plot. Realistically, you could strip out the romance from my UF books, and they'd still stand. Although I'd never want to do that, personally. ;-)
ATUF: What do you think about the love triangle? It seems to be more and more common in urban fantasy.
NP: I have a love triangle of sorts, although I have, of course, played with the idea. Basically, there's a hint of love triangle, but I wanted to write a female character who knows what she wants and doesn't play about, once she does know.
As for love triangles, in general, I think they're like any trope in fiction that's considered "overdone." To be honest, everything is overdone. There's nothing new under the sun, in fiction--we leave that to nonfiction. It all depends on how well things are written, and whether they're really integral to the plot. So viva la love triangle!
ATUF: In Urban Fantasy, readers often wait for several books before the couple finally gets together. How do you pull off this type of delayed gratification without frustrating your readers?
NP: Luckily, our characters live in really, really complicated worlds where everything is conspiring against them. So we can have all sorts of shenanigans occur: kidnappings, near murders, being brought back from the dead, bringing other people back from the dead, etc. We're lucky, as a genre, in that we have a lot of tools in our belts both to get our characters together, and to pry them apart again.
ATUF: Romantic tension is an art. How do you create that tension with your characters?
NP: Again, I think it's about being playful and really having fun with the series. In my books, too, I try to write very "human" and vulnerable characters. So yes, they're magical, but they're also sometimes afraid they're not good enough, or the other person doesn't like them back. I think showing that vulnerability and then seeing doubts either erased or overcome is very, very sexy and can be very rewarding both to read and to write.
ATUF: Is it important to have HEAs in Urban Fantasy?
NP: I think it really depends on your readership. Depending on what type of UF you write, you might have a lot of Romance readers who really want to see an HEA. Or you can have a bunch of really hard-core SF/F writers, who'd love to see a tragedy, with everyone dead on stage. So I do think we have to be sensitive to our audience, while also being true to the stories that we want to tell.
ATUF: What are you most looking forward to at the RT Conference this year?
NP: I love meeting fans, book bloggers, and librarians, so these kinds of cons are all about the interacting, for me. I'm also excited to see my agent, as she's coming for her very first RT! I think she's going to love it.
ATUF: Which panel other than your own are you most excited about?
NP: I'm totally excited for the Purple Prose Taboo panel. I love me some skanky euphemisms. His quivering womanmaker beaded with dew! Bring it on!
ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by Nicole. Come back anytime!
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| About the Author |
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Nicole D. Peeler received an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Boston University, and a PhD in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. She’s lived abroad in both Spain and the UK, and lived all over the USA. Currently, she resides outside Pittsburgh, to teach inSeton Hill’s MFA in Popular Fiction. When she’s not in the classroom infecting young minds with her madness, she’s writing Urban Fantasy for Orbit Books and taking pleasure in what means most to her: family, friends, food, and travel. |
| Visit Nicole online: |
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I feel like I always bring up cover art, but I can't help it! I have seen these books in the store and I have hardly seen other covers like them. I really like that it is unique and not the same old sexy girl photo in a half shirt with a knife behind her back. Those have their place, but I appreciate something different.
ReplyDeleteI was drawn to Tempest Rising by the cover art and then delighted when I read what was inside.
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