I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to start having monthly competitions on my blog now. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be easy to enter as you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll only have to reply to the blog post, and the post will be topical or fun so you will have something to say, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure.<\/p>\n
So, the competition is open for a month and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll announce the winner when I post the next competition. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to leave an email address, just your name. Just check the next month\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s competition to see if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve won or not, and then email me at the given address. That way, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get spam (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m used to it) for giving out my addy online and you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t!<\/p>\n
What can you win? The ebook of your choice from my back catalogue.<\/p>\n
This time I want to talk about vampire romance.<\/p>\n
Has the nail finally been hammered into the coffin of the vampire romance genre as the industry would have you believe?<\/p>\n
My answer: I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so.<\/p>\n
The industry loves to say that one genre is dead or over, or reached its peak, but often that just seems to be because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an influx of stories in that genre rolling into the publishing houses. And sure, I can understand that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re probably getting a bit bored of the same old vampires doing the same old stuff, and I can sympathise with that. Anyone who knows me knows that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand the redemptionista vampires\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthose who hark on about how they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t drink human blood or kill and they just want to be human. They weep on and on about wanting to be mortal, as though that would make them some better being. Oh, give me a break. Honestly, if you were reborn as an immortal killing machine superior to the human race, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be particularly worried about the fact that you need human blood to survive. We kill animals all of the time for sustenance. To a vampire, it would surely be the same? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing as their bodies demand, just as we are, only unlike us, they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t normally survive on a vegetarian diet instead. Essentially, we have a choice about killing living creatures, they probably don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. And besides that, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to say that they have to kill? They could probably feed without killing if they really had a problem with it, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all down to the author.<\/p>\n
But I have to say, if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a writer who is squeamish about having a killer as your hero or heroine (which a vampire essentially is), then you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re probably not cut out to write paranormal romance books. I believe in vampires behaving in the same way as we do because we see ourselves as top of the food chain\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith little concern for what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re killing because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re boss and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final. In fact, my Vampires Realm vampires revel in the kill and the feed, they thrive on it and the way it feels for them, almost addictive and like a drug.<\/p>\n
So yeah, the industry is probably finding there are too many similar vampire romance stories right now and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re swamped with them, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always room for a good vampire romance story, something different with a twist or a plot which makes it worth the read and worth putting it out there on shelves for everyone to enjoy.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think readers are bored with the genre. Vampires have been popular for a long time, since Dracula first came around, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see them going poof anytime soon. I think that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be around for a while to come as long as the writers have the common sense to try to make their story a bit different. Not that I should be encouraging them as they are the competition after all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much the same as any genre. If everyone ends up writing the same stuff, it gets boring. Just spice it up a little and think outside everyone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s books (or in my case, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t read them unless it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for research purposes on what level of writing sells, that way you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not influenced).<\/p>\n
So what does everyone think about this ongoing message that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the end for vampires? Is it just the industry bored of reading about them, or are you getting that way too? Do you think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a tactic by the industry to lessen the number of vampire stories and increase the number of other paranormal types to fill out their shelves?<\/p>\n
I know variety is supposedly the spice of life, but if you like something you like it. I love chocolate. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see me complaining there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too much chocolate in the world and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all much the same! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen a reader complain that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too much vampire romance out there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to start having monthly competitions on my blog now. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be easy to enter as you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll only have to reply to the blog post, and the post will be topical or fun so you will have something to … Continue reading