For many of us who write
erotica, paranormal is the most enticing of the sub-genres, offering many
ways to increase sexual tension. World-building allows us to create our own
erotic settings, invent sexier creatures than those who exist on our planet, traipse
through time to find or lose lovers. We can bend reality any way we choose.
We can invent supernatural beings both virtuous and villainous while investing
the corners of our new world with quirks that facilitate the thrills and spills
that make a great read.
The paranormal encompasses so many sub-sub-genres! A
partial listing: futuristic, including science fiction; steampunk; time travel;
fantasy, which encompasses "creature" stories with vampires, weres,
the fae, dragons, zombies and the like. Magic and witchcraft is also a subgenre
of fantasy. All of these can be mixed into any story brew you please.
World-building 101: Take the basic elements of any book and consider how they
may be made paranormal, i.e., beyond the normal.
Characters and conflicts: There's a natural tension in a
romance between a paranormal entity and a human, and you can exploit this to
your advantage and to the betterment of your book. Vampires are a great
example. How can there be a "happily ever after" ending to a romance
between an immortal, virtually invulnerable being and someone who will,
inevitably, die? Would any sensible vampire dare to open his or her heart to a
fragile human?
And how can a human trust in the love of an immortal? We
who age must fear the loss of an immortal's love.
Vampires, being denizens of the night, are intrinsically
mysterious. Powerful predators, vamps step easily into villainous roles, but
lately we've been reading about heroic vampires. With their extraordinary
senses, vampires can make extraordinary heroes. The vampires in my Highland
Vampires series aretypical case in point, possessing super-strength and swiftness, as well as longevity.
There's also natural tension in a relationship between different
supernatural beings. Werewolves and vampires are both dominating creatures. The
males often figure as alphas in many an erotic romance. What happens when
territories overlap? Clashes are inevitable, and the sex is awesome.
Many writers have created supernatural beings whose
abilities amplify each others. For example, Jayne Castle (Jayne Ann Krentz)
created different types of psychics in what I call her flower trilogy (Amaryllis,
Orchid, and Zinnia); the differing talents need each other in order to
effectively focus and use their powers. Often one of the dyad was female and
the other male. Thus, they'd have to work together to solve the mystery and
trap the villain. But the sexual tension and conflict were maintained using
this device, for the female would wonder if the male truly loved her for her
qualities other than her ability to focus his energies.
Others create creatures made for sex. Succubi and incubi,
supernatural demons who use humans for sex and seed, have become popular. Some
writers have invented aliens which can extrude body parts and insert them into
their human subjects for pleasure and pain.
Setting: Setting is an often overlooked aspect of our
novels. As an editor, I have read several stories that are completely
non-specific as to setting. As a reader, I like to be grounded in a story. I
like to know where and when the story's taking place. I don't believe that I
suffer from terminal uniqueness, so as a writer, I let the reader know where
and when the story's taking place, even if the both are completely imaginary,
i.e., "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."
In a paranormal, it is fatal to overlook setting. More
positively, some settings are so compelling that they will earn your book a
spot on many a reader's keeper shelf. Fans return again and again to the Harry
Potter books and to Tolkien not only because of the intriguing characters,
compelling conflicts and universal themes, but because they want to spend more
time studying at Hogwarts and exploring Middle Earth. Orson Scott Card calls fiction
dependent upon a particular setting milieu fiction, and gives Tolkien's Ring
Trilogy as an example.
Of course you may create any setting that compels you,
but when you do so, consider how your
setting will facilitate or block mystery
and romance.
When world-building for a paranormal erotic romance, I
like to factor in elements that will facilitate sexy situations. In Queen’s
Quest, a paranormal erotic thriller, I postulated a planet with an extremely
low birthrate. Babies were rare and prized. Thus, sex was encouraged—including
public sex—which enabled me to include numerous sex scenes, while the dearth
of normal births encouraged the characters to find other reproductive methods.
These added to the suspense subplot (I don't want to say more without providing
a spoiler alert).
Settings need not be exotic and magic need not be arcane,
invented from whole cloth. You can use what you already know. I drew upon my
teenage interests in tarot reading and Wicca to write Gypsy Witch, an erotic
short story set in my hometown of Sacramento, California during the dog days of
late summer. A character used witchcraft to bring to life the stone statues of
knights set at the doorway of the downtown Masonic Temple, bringing magic to an
otherwise mundane setting. The romantic conflict ended in a ménage—a different
kind of magic.
Another example is
Ocean Dreams, a short story set in a fictional marine park, much like Sea World or similar places. Many people visit them, so readers are able to draw upon their experiences to create the setting in their minds. That story features a dolphin shifter, which a fun departure for me. Find that story in the
Naughty Reunions box set,
http://tinyurl.com/NReunions.
Theme: Also overlooked, but as intrinsically a part of
our stories as words themselves. Many paranormals feature the clash of good
against evil. Paranormals employing figures out of religious traditions, such
as angels, devils, demons and the like, will inevitably dabble in moral
questions whether or not the author is aware that s/he is doing so. Raising
such questions is older than Faust, older even than the Bible.
Coming of age stories are also common. In erotica, we
often read the induction of a virgin into the pleasures of sex. One of my
erotic short stories, The Moon Maiden's Mate, is about an arranged marriage on a lunar
colony. Another popular theme is the BDSM newbie learning about the joy of
kink.
The message? Erotica isn’t only about sex. Write a good
story and weave in explicit sex and you’ll have a really good story. Put it on
another planet and you’ll have a great story. Paranormal content is a great way
to engage the reader.
