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I suppose my last blog post is a good time to talk about endings: specifically genre crossover endings. A lot of books these days are hybrids of several genres. The Cassie Palmer series, for example, appeals mainly to fantasy, mystery and romance fans, with a sprinkling of horror and thriller readers mixed in there for good measure. The question I get asked most frequently is, does trying to please the readers of so many genres, each of which has its own rules and expectations, cause any problems?

Short answer: Oh, yeah.

Long answer: Since one of the biggest bones of contention is how a story ends, let's use that as an example. And there are no two genres more disparate in that regard than romance and fantasy. In romance, the genre expectation is still the happily-ever-after ending (which is so common that it even has a widely understood abbreviation: HEA). Not that all romance stories conform to this anymore-romance, like most genres, has become more flexible in recent years-but a great many romances do follow the old formula because a great many romance fans still prefer it. In fantasy, happy endings are also the norm and have been for generations. It's one of the main things that separates fantasy, even dark fantasy, from horror. The problem is that fans of the two genres often have a very different take on how they define the term "happy."

Top Ten Reasons to Date a Vampire

10. They sleep all day, so no complaints about how much time you spend with the girls.

9. They usually have Renfield-types hanging around who can be used for running errands, general house cleaning and pest control.

8. Superhuman strength means no more struggles to open jars.

7. Easy storage in a basement or closet (so they don't take over your house).

6. Personal protection is no longer a worry.

5. They never ask you to cook for them.

4. Most come from an era when men actually knew how to dance.

3. They have stock portfolios going back centuries.

2. They don't age.

1. And the top reason for dating a vamp-centuries of practice!

Final post this afternoon: Endings

View more information on Karen Chance's Embrace the Night.

Embrace the Night

novel

urban fantasy

vampire

thriller

Cassandra Palmer

Penguin Books

books

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I love short formats, mainly because they allow me to present great stories that might never be told otherwise.

A good example is one of the short stories I have out this year, "Rogue Elements." It involves a new set of characters, and indeed, a new aspect of the Cassie Palmer universe: werewolves. Now, shapeshifters of various types have shown up before, both in the Cassie Palmer books and in "Buying Trouble," a novella I did for the Ace anthology On the Prowl last year. But so far, they'd gotten short shrift. So, when I was invited to take part in Toni P. Kelner and Charlaine Harris's Christmas anthology, Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (out in October 2008) I couldn't sign up fast enough. Werewolves! Christmas! Man, it just doesn't get any better than that. I walked around with a grin for days.

The story centers around a series of disappearing werewolves, and not just any wolves at that: every one is the daughter of an important clan leader. Desperate to find his daughter, Sebastian Arnou does the unthinkable: he goes to the Silver Circle of light magic users for aid. Their version of a police force is known as the War Mage Corps, and although they agree to help, few have much experience with Weres. The exception is disgraced, on-the-edge-of-being-canned war mage Lia de Croissets, whose mother happened to be a high ranking member of the important Were clan Lobizon.

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I'm thrilled that Midnight's Daughter is finally being published (October 2008). It was written all the way back in 2006, so I was beginning to wonder if it would ever see the light of day (so to speak). Dorina Basarab is a dhampir, with a human mother and a vampire father. She's also stark staring mad. It's the result of a human body combined with the vampire killing instinct, and while she isn't insane all the time, she does have frequent psychotic episodes. She doesn't normally remember what took place during these, but the body count that she finds on waking usually gives her a clue.

Dory's unusual psychology made her both fun and a challenge to write. How does a crazy person think, anyway? (The rumors that I'd know all about that personally are, of course, vicious lies). Exploring her father issues was another interesting aspect-dysfunctional doesn't start to cover it when one part of the family is naturally designed to prey on another. And just to make it a little more complicated, how would Dory handle being forced to take on a dangerous assignment with a master vampire for a partner? Especially if said vampire was dug up by her estranged father and was one to whom she felt a very unwilling attraction?

Ah, fun times.

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I'm often asked by aspiring fiction writers how to craft a believable fantasy involving creatures that go bump in the night. And at the top of almost everyone's wish list is the perpetual bloodsucking favorite: vampires. A while ago, I put together a tongue in cheek response to those queries, which nonetheless does represent some of the things I try to keep in mind when writing. This is, by the way, a list that works pretty well for fantasies and/or paranormal romances. Some of the rules might also apply to horror books, although to a lesser degree.

Why Some Vampires Rock and Others Just . . . Suck

The popularity of vamps in everything from TV and movies to bestselling novels proves that there is a large market only too willing to join the dark side (or at least to read about it) if it is done well. A common trend in recent years has been to take traditional bad guys, especially vampires, and transform them into the heroes of the story. But just how does an author write a believable vampire and also make him a compelling protagonist? Below is my take on how to avoid having your hero suck (other than literally).

First, vampires are not simply humans with extra long teeth. You cannot take the average romantic lead, slap a pair of fangs on him and call him a vampire. Or, rather, you can, but readers will understandably feel cheated. Just how different your hero is depends on how many of the vampire legends you want to use. There are a boatload (or maybe a coffin-full) of choices. Among other things, vampires are said to be able to shapeshift into bats, wolves or columns of mist, to defy gravity, to heal unnaturally fast, to be almost impossible to kill, to have extra sharp senses, and, of course, to never age. Even if only a few of these characteristics are used in a story, they are going to make for an extremely unconventional hero.

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When I was asked to be a guest blogger by Anne Sowards, my lovely editor at Roc, I jumped at the chance. I probably would have anyway-publicity! for free!--but this is an especially good time because I actually have something to say. For the first time I have two books appearing in a single year: Embrace the Night, the third Cassie Palmer novel (April 1) and Midnight's Daughter, the first Dorina Basarab (coming to a shelf near you in October). I'm really excited about both books because each in its own way breaks new ground. But this post would be really long if I talked about both books today, so look forward to hearing about Midnight's Daughter on Wednesday.

The plot for Embrace the Night centers around a real historical puzzle: the meaning of the Ephesian letters, a six-word incantation once carved into the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. It was one of the earliest known incantations, dating to at least the 4th century BC, was perhaps the most widespread and was reputably the most powerful. An abbreviated form of its first two words-Aski Kataski-eventually came to be used in the same way "hocus pocus" is today: as a way of referring to magic in general. But the meaning of the phrase was lost when the temple was burnt to the ground in 356 BC by Herostratus, a nutjob who hoped to be immortalized for destroying one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He got his wish, but humankind lost a treasure. And the forgotten meaning of the Ephesian Letters became the oldest riddle in all magic.

Karen Chance is our guest blogger during the week of March 31st. If you have any questions for Karen Chance, add a comment to any of her posts. Here is some brief information about Embrace the Night:

Cassandra Palmer may be the world's chief clairvoyant, but she's still magically bound to a master vampire. Only an ancient book called the Codex Merlini possesses the incantation to free Cassie-but harnessing its limitless power could endanger the world...

About Karen Chance

Karen Chance has lived in France, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, but always comes back to America. She currently lives in Central Florida, the home of make-believe, which may explain a lot.

Embrace the Night
Karen Chance - Author
$7.99| add to cart
Book: Paperback: Mass Market | 6.49 x 4.29in | 400 pages | ISBN 9780451461995 | 01 Apr 2008

 

 

Karen Chance, Embrace the Night, novel, urban fantasy, vampire, thriller, Cassandra Palmer, Penguin Books, books