Virtual FantasyCon will be happening soon--October 9th through 16th!
I'll be there, participating in two day-long events. I'll have an author booth for Monday's Epic Fantasy Day, where I'll talk about my epic fantasy romance series The Enchanted Bookstore Legends, and also on Wednesday for Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Day. I'm also participating in the multi-author Virtual FantasyCon Blog Hop Hunt, which is a super fun game for guests you'll definitely want to check out.
Also, I've already added other Virtual FantasyCon days to my schedule just as a reader since I know the kind of fun that's in store. I had author booths last year in the first Virtual FantasyCon and it was a great time. I really look forward to events where readers get to interact with authors. For guests, it makes the reading experience so much richer to understand more about an author and their interests. As an author, it gives me an extra edge of purpose and excitement about my writing process. I love interacting with readers, and Virtual FantasyCon is one of the best events where that can happen. For more details and links to direct you to the events, check at the end of this post.
Like I mentioned, I'm excited to be hosting an author booth for Wednesday's Paranormal Romance event. The current series I'm writing, Coon Hollow Coven Tales, fits that genre. I enjoy adding romance subplots to fantasy for some fun twists to the storylines. Here are more of my thoughts on combining romance with fantasy:
You’ve Got Your Romance in My
Fantasy—You’ve Got Your Fantasy in My Romance!
Is the correct term for the genre romantic fantasy or fantasy romance? Not many agree, but regardless of how we use those
terms, romance works well with fantasy.
Novels must have conflict to engage a
reader. Love is filled to the brim with conflict. Maybe two characters are
afraid to admit their feelings, or can’t let their feelings be known outside of
the two of them if their families dislike each other. Plenty of tales are woven
with a prince falling in love with a milkmaid, or a princess escaping her
ill-tempered, intended royal husband to be with a stable boy. These
difficulties add a sense of reality to fantasy novels, a lifeline for readers
to be able to identify with those characters.
This is the subgenre of my own
writing, so I’ve obviously given a lot of thought to these categories. But, it
seems the longer I look, the more confused I get. Maybe I’m in the forest too
deeply to see the trees. I’ll list characteristics to aid discussion, and then
would appreciate some interaction to make the distinctions clearer.
Similarities:
Traditional publishing houses have long published romantic fantasy in fantasy,
as well as in romance lines. That fact alone is enough
to confuse writers and readers alike.
The protagonists of both subgenres often begin their
journeys by escaping abusive or oppressive environments. But because of the
romance element, their goals are not to become free from all social ties.
Instead, most characters search for a new community or social group where they
truly belong, and eventually love blossoms. A true loner protagonist does not
exist in either romantic fantasy or fantasy romance.
Common plot
archetypes of both subgenres:
A teenager from an overly strict or abusive family runs away and discovers he/she
possesses magical or psychic powers. These newly-found powers open the character
to a hope-filled destiny. Typically, the character finds ways to earn his/her
place in a new society, through saving a city, kingdom, or other large group
from harm by a dangerous villain or monster.
An adult who is a minor noble or someone who has recently lost a loved one
strikes out in search of a new life. The character may already be magical or
discover his/her abilities as in the above example. Their powers enable them to
save a world from outside invasion. In the process, he/she falls in love. The
book or series is expected to have a typical happily-ever-after ending for the
couple, following accepted romance form.
A group of adolescents are drawn
together through circumstance and destiny to form a collective that is larger
than the sum of its parts. These young people are often outcasts, orphans, or somehow
on the fringes of society. Each possesses magical powers, which complement
different abilities of the others in the group. The bond which holds them
together allows them to experience a new sense of belonging. The characters
mature as they find friendship and love. The group ultimately overthrows some
threat no one else is able to face in the larger community.
Differences:
Magic is often handled differently in the two subgenres.
In romantic fantasy the magical abilities are typically innate and simple to
use. An example of this would be precognition, oriented towards affinity for or
control of a particular natural element, commonly the four Greek elements of
fire, air, earth, and water. This difference in the magical system is because
more story time is taken by the romance. Less is spent developing a complex,
secretive body of customs which requires long study and great personal
sacrifice. Fantasy romance would be expected to have more complex magical
systems, approximating more closely what we see in high fantasy.
Some publishers claim romantic fantasy is the correct
label where the romance is most important and fantasy romance where the fantasy
elements are most important. Others state that the division between fantasy
romance and romantic fantasy has essentially ceased to exist.
From my personal experience, when a work rides the line,
with the romance and fantasy elements being of near equal importance,
publishers are often stumped. I submitted such a manuscript over and over,
answering detailed follow-up questions so the editors could determine if one
outweighed the other, to guide their acceptance. Being equal, they were stymied.
Those extended reviews by numerous houses took plenty of time. In the end, I
didn’t wish to rewrite, making one element sing louder as I was requested. I
like my heroines to work hard to become good at their magic craft, spending as
much time as they do falling in love.
Examples:
Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy
C. L. Wilson’s
Tairen Soul
Series
Maria V. Snyder’s Poison Study Series
Sharon Shinn’s Twelve Houses Series
Catherine Asaro’s Lost Continent Series
Mercedes Lackey’s Five Hundred Kingdoms Series
I would
attempt to categorize these examples as romantic fantasy or fantasy romance, but
the line is a subjective one and subject to debate.
I prefer my fantasy with romance rather than my
romance with fantasy. What is your preference?
*~*~*~*
Virtual FantasyCon is a fun
and interesting online event happening in October and best of all it’s free.
The location is your computer. You can drop by any day during the event and
check out the booths for that day. There will be authors, bloggers, editors,
artists, and publishers to list just a few. There will be a Cosplay booth, Blog
Hop Hunt booth, panel discussions, and a new booth this year an Author Cache
Sale booth (This booth is new and is only for the participating authors on the
day of each event. Books on sale for $1.99 or 0.99 can list these books in the
comment section below for guests to find and buy.) It is put together by lovely
people like Carol March, Raven Williams, Denise Garrou, and others who have
worked behind the scenes to make this event happen.
It’s a place to catch up on
your favorite author and discover new authors. There is epic fantasy, urban
fantasy, dark fantasy, children’s fantasy, and YA fantasy to name just a few of
the different types of authors that will have a booth during the event.
To find out more about the
event check out the following social media links:
JOIN MARSHA'S MAILING LIST and receive a free copy of her paranormal romance story RULER OF THE NIGHT.
Read Marsha's COON HOLLOW TALES of paranormal romance and her ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS for adventurous epic fantasy romance. For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, LE CIRQUE DE MAGIE, available at Amazon and Smashwords.
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