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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

What is it About Vampires, Anyway?


I’ve loved romance all my life. A story that focuses on two people falling in love and living happily ever after—that’s what I want. Real life is full of uncertainty, but romance novels are required to end happily. They’re a port in the storm for me. An escape. Still, it wasn’t until I discovered the paranormal genre—vampires in particular—that I was inspired to write romance.

And why is that?

At first, I really had no idea. I just loved vampires so much. When King of Darkness was released though, I was asked so many times I had to give the matter some real thought. Turns out the fascination had always been there. I can go back to childhood and Beauty and the Beast, and remember how interesting it was that a monster could fall in love.

Fast forward a few years to The Lost Boys and Interview with a Vampire. Because yeah, even undead, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise were totally hot. These were more like horror movies with a touch of romance, but it was the gateway for me to seeing vampires in a sensual and romantic light. For what would later become seeing vampires as heroes rather than villains.

I’ve talked to readers about some of the reasons they like vampires: the fangs, the muscles, the primal alpha male-ness, and the fact that they literally growl. I agree wholeheartedly with all of it. As a writer I also like the extra challenges and dimensions you can add to your story with the supernatural elements that vampires bring to the table. They need their love interest’s blood to survive! They’re immortal, or nearly-so, depending on the rules of your world (my vampires are alive rather than undead so they live for a long time but not forever). Maybe they have super-strength.  These days, your vampire can come in any shape or size.

The possibilities are endless.

So what about you? Do you enjoy paranormal? Not everyone does, and that’s okay too. If you do, what’s your favorite paranormal creature, and why? Leave a comment to let me know, and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of King of Darkness.

About King of Darkness:

ETERNAL COMMITMENT IS NOT ON HER AGENDA...
Scorned by the vampire community for her lack of power, Isabel Anthony lives a carefree existence masquerading as human--although drifting through the debauched human nightlife, she prefers the patrons' blood to other indulgences. But when she meets the sexy, arrogant king of the vampires, this party-girl's life turns dark and dangerous.

BUT TIME'S RUNNING OUT FOR THE KING OF THE VAMPIRES...
Dead-set on finding the prophesied mate who will unlock his fiery powers, Thad Morgan must find his queen before their race is destroyed. Their enemies are gaining ground, and Thad needs his powers to unite his subjects. But when his search leads him to the defiant Isabel, he wonders if fate had gotten it seriously wrong...
King of Darkness is available NOW:  Amazon : Barnes and Noble : IndieBound

Elisabeth Staab lives in Northern Virginia with her hero and soul mate. She has been a telemarketer, a web page editor, a software developer, a reader for the blind, a technical trainer, a coffee shop barista, a tutor, a homemaker, a government project manager, a graphic designer, and a professional ebayer. Finally, she's landed on being a writer - which is what her high school guidance counselor originally suggested anyway.

Elisabeth believes that all kinds of safe, sane, and consensual love should be celebrated--but she loves the fantasy-filled realm of paranormal romance the best. Find out more at ElisabethStaab.com.

***Elisabeth's winner is Megan!  Congratulations!!  Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full name and mailing address and we'll get the prize in the mail to you!!***

24 comments:

Unknown said...

hi elizabeth...

of course iam enjoy with paranormal...and my fav : vampire (bones night huntress series by jeaniene frost) and dark hunter series(like a acheron, zarek dark huntress series by sherrylin kenyon) coz they are :
1. dark
2. sexy,
3. hottie
4. mysterious
5. care about the woman who loved ..
6. willing to sacrifice himself for the woman who loved

thanks for the giveaway ^^

Romantic Heretic said...

I remember reading an article many years ago about how you can tell what a society doesn't like to deal with by the monsters popular in their media. The author noted that Dracula was a sexual monster and sex was something the Victorians tried to pretend doesn't exist and is bad.

That animus towards sex still exists in our society and so it's not surprising vampires are a big part of our media.

On top of that there is another facet of existence that we here in North America have problems with: death. Death really isn't a part of our lives any more. We have the same attitude towards it that the Victorians had towards sex.

Vampires, being immortal, rise above death. In this way they help us deal with it. That freedom from death makes vampires fascinating to us.

My own vampires I write simply to explore what it means to be ethical. The way I imagine them vampires have to do something evil just to exist. How do they deal with this? How do they prevent themselves from falling into the abyss? Can love save them from this? How do their lovers deal with this?

It makes for fascinating stories.

Michele L. said...

I love paranormal stories! I didn't like them at all until about 3 or 4 years ago. I discovered some really cool authors and it has been a love relationship since then. I like the Sookie Stackhouse stories, the Drakon' series by Shana Abe', Susan Blexrud Fang series, Susan Krinard's books, etc. There are so many excellent authors out there!

Andrea said...

I have become a big fan of paranormal stories. I like vampires and chagelings but they're been done so much. Keeping all the vampire rules straight for each series is getting difficult.

I like demons a lot and I don't read about them very often. I like all the different Aliens in Gena Showalter's Alien Huntress series.

Victoria said...

I got sucked into paranormal reads with Kelley Armstrong's Tales of the Otherworld series. I was hooked. About 85% of all my reads are paranormal.

CrystalGB said...

Hi Elizabeth. Your book sounds great. Love the cover. I love paranormals. My favorite paranormal creatures are shapeshifters. You never know what is lurking below the surface. :)

Lil said...

I love reading paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Am fond of the different types of beings but am currently fascinated with dragon shifters.

Elisabeth Staab said...

Wow, I'm loving these answers! So intriguing, and so varied! And that's one of the really cool things about paranormal, the options in the genre are as many and varied as the people who read and write it. There's really something for everyone.

Leni said...

I love paranormal romances. Vampires and shifters are the main characters that I've read about. My favorite thing about this genre is how you instantly use your imagination and get into the story and let it take you into the book.

Tina B said...

Well, I really love almost all paranormal. Most recently, I have been on an angel kick. You know, the ones that fight for good but are bad when it comes to their women. ;) Reading your post reminds me of movies when I was younger also. I LOVED the Lost Boys! I think that's what made me fall in love with Corey Haim. I also fondly remember Teen Wolf, Michael J Fox. I love the Worlds that the authors build as well as the characters. I love werewolves because they're loyal and HOT! Literally. I love vampires because I always see them as otherworldly. Thanks for the giveaway!

Barbara E. said...

I love paranormal romance as well as urban fantasy (sometimes I can't tell the difference). I love all of the wonderful supernatural beings, the action, the fantastic worlds, and the kick ass heroes and heroines. My favorite paranormal creature is the vampire, I love that they're immortal, can heal quickly, haunt the night, have mental and physical power, and since they live so long, they have such knowledge.

Barbed1951 at aol dot com

Debby said...

I love vampires. They are the ultimate bad boy. Right now though I am enjoying shifters. debby236 at gmail dot com

alainala said...

i love paranormal romance!! my favs tend to be off sort shifters.. cats, dragons and the like.. i love some things that are not quite the norm

Elisabeth Staab said...

Wow, thanks for stopping by everybody! Some of you are really making me want to pick up more shifter books. I like the blend of Urban Fantasy as well, my books blend that--I love the idea of vampires living right under our noses without our knowing it. ;-)

Na said...

I do enjoy paranormal books and vampires are my favorite creature. There is so much possibility in world-building and introducing me to non-human beings. Even better is seeing these para beings find love.
Cambonified{at}yahoo{dot}com

Mary Preston said...

I like some paranormal. It's not my absolute favorite genre, but having said that I LOVE Angels.

Romantic Heretic said...

If I may? If you like urban fantasy I recommend 'The Dresden Files' by Jim Butcher.

Great characters, wonderful world building, excellent writing. It has just about every major supernatural race in it. So far; four different types of werewolves, four different types of vampires, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of the Fae, Knights of The Cross (one of whom is an agnostic), a Valkyrie, one of the Norse Gods and his helpers and these really scary things called The Denarians.

It's really great work.

Dina said...

I LOVE paranormal, it's my favorite. Love vampires, wolves and shapeshifters, makes it more exciting.

Megan said...

I love paranormal, especially combined with a good romance. I'm currently obsessed with Dragos, a dragon, from Thea Harrison's Elder Race series. Thanks for the giveaway! I've been wanting to read King of Darkness.

Eli Yanti said...

paranormal genre is my fave genre beside HR and YA and the creature i love are vampire, werewolf and dragon ;)

Elisabeth Staab said...

One of my Beta readers mentioned this, it's on my TBR list. Thank you!

Elisabeth Staab said...

I'm so glad there are so many paranormal fans out there! I appreciate all of you for checking out King of Darkness!

Elisabeth Staab said...

I love it. Fascinating! :)

Pat Cochran said...

Paranormals and I haven't yet become best
buddies! I've tried a couple but that's as
far as I've gone! I'm not giving up yet!

Pat C.