Monday, February 9, 2009

Please welcome author, Brynna Curry!

Hi, Everyone! I'm Beth to most everyone that knows me, but I write paranormal romance and suspense under the psuedonym Brynna Curry. I have two wip's right now, Wolf's Bane a shifter tale and Bite Me! vampires, magic and time travel. I'm unpublished, but I'm working steadily to change that. Blood Shield, a paranormal suspense, has received several requests for fulls. I judge several contests yearly, I'm one of the four bloggers found at FrighteningJourneys and my site The Fairy Ring hosts guest authors and interviews once weekly. Now back to your regulary scheduled post...

Do you think the world is ready for more vampire novels? Or have they been plied with so much Twilight, the fans shudder at a glint of fang? When it comes to writing paranormal, I've found that agents and publishers seem to have a set standard for the genre. At least the ones I've contacted do. It's either 'get the pitchforks!' meaning "We will not sell it. Go far, far away." or "Don't bother sending it in. Too much competition. Your work can't possibly compare." So, what's a writer to do? My writing world is full of vampires, werewolves, witches and the like. Surely someone must accept paranormal? After all, you CAN buy it off the shelf.

Maybe the world would like to see a vampire with just the right bit of kick. On one end of the spectrum you have YA, 'nuff said, on the other end you have erotic romance. There's nothing wrong with that. My crit partner makes a living writing erotic novels. Still, that leaves the in betweens, all the moms who'd like to read the genre without the explicit love scenes or explaining to their twelve year old's why they can not go poking around mommy's bookshelf and e-readers.

Vampires are sensual creatures by nature. I like to think of them as explicitly aware once-humans, with all our flaws magnified. Rage, lust, selfishness, greed and I enjoy saving them from themselves. I think my favorite vampire would have to be Nora Roberts' Cian (Valley of Silence- circle trilogy) I'd love to introduce you to my vampire Kail McKenna. You can read an excerpt of his story (unpublished) here. http://www.freewebs.com/brynnacurry

With Blessings,
Brynna

6 deadly screams:

Gracen Miller said...

Hi, Brynna (Beth)! Thanks for blogging with us today.

I like dark paranormal romances where a vampire (or insert a different magical/mythical creature) isn't wallowing in self-pity and hating what he/she is. It's fine if you or someone else likes them, but I want something darker and edgier. That's just me personally.

I've not seen Twilight, so I don't have a clue what all the rage is about it. My girlfriend loves the books and movie, but honestly, the YA genre of it puts me off. I truly doubt it will be dark or edgy enough for me. To be honest, to hear her talk about them makes me yawn.

Good luck on your books. Don't give up. What's right for one publishers isn't right for another, so you'll eventually make the right connection.

Thanks again for guest blogging. It was a joy having you. =)

Gracen Miller said...

Hi, Brynna (Beth)! Thanks for blogging with us today.

I like dark paranormal romances where a vampire (or insert a different magical/mythical creature) isn't wallowing in self-pity and hating what he/she is. It's fine if you or someone else likes them, but I want something darker and edgier. That's just me personally.

I've not seen Twilight, so I don't have a clue what all the rage is about it. My girlfriend loves the books and movie, but honestly, the YA genre of it puts me off. I truly doubt it will be dark or edgy enough for me. To be honest, to hear her talk about them makes me yawn.

Good luck on your books. Don't give up. What's right for one publishers isn't right for another, so you'll eventually make the right connection.

Thanks again for guest blogging. It was a joy having you. =)

Gracen Miller said...

Sorry for the double post. I am NOT sure how it happened. LOL =)

Anonymous said...

I think it's very difficult to make a vampire story stand out nowadays, in such an over-saturated market.

Two examples of vampire stories that stood out in my mind are Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot, in which the front teeth are the fangs, rather than the traditional canines, and Steve Niles' 30 Days Of Night, with more traditional, but very evil, vampires who decide to take over a town in Alaska during a time that there is no sunlight for a month. It's such a blindingly obvious great setting for a vampire story, a place without sunlight, that I couldn't help being amazed that no one had done it before *s* (Anne Rice isn't so much of a standout as she is someone that really revitalized and redefined the genre, so I didn't include her in my standout list.)

I haven't read the Twilight books, and don't plan to. I'm with Gracen on wanting that edginess in my vampire stories *s*

Thank you for the guest blog! I wish you all the best in your publishing adventures; keep us posted!

Marie-Claude Bourque said...

Hi Brynna,
I hear you about trying to do another vampire story. There are so many out there. I like the historical vampire theme now. I would love for someone to go more into that old-fashioned luxurious vampire story like Anne Rice, and borderline on horror or with a really gothic feel.
I think I am a little saturated with the modern cool vampire that walks among us and go to the PTA meeting.
Brighest Blessings,
Marie-Claude :)

Sarah Mäkelä said...

I agree with you, Brynna. It can be difficult for "normal" heat vampire/paranormal stories. I don't write erotica and I don't write YA, so it's something that I've been wondering about as well. I haven't submitted enough to get that impression myself, but just from what I've read on the internet, I think you're right about the pitchforks/too much competition.

It was great having you blog with us! Thank you so much. I wish you the best with getting published. We'd love to have you guest blog with us again. =)