Research and the Paranormal

I love research. It’s one of my favorite non-writing things to do. And when I’m procrastinating or stuck on a book, it makes me feel like I’m actually doing something productive!

My romantic thrillers, which rely heavily on the law, forensics, criminal psychology and law enforcement procedures are relatively easy to research. I can talk to cops, FBI Agents, coroners, psychologists, and others for answers to my “what if” questions. I have forty-one books to refer to, plus a dozen or so websites I can rely on for accurate information. I read true crime which gives me an insight into real investigations; I participate in classes and law enforcement drills to help put myself in their shoes; I can watch dozens of cop shows, both fictional and reality based. Between all of these resources, coupled with my imagination, I can come up with a believable romantic thriller.

But as is common for many authors, we like variety. Growing up, I read a lot of mysteries and suspense novels but when I hit my early teens, I found I also loved the creepy and paranormal. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul—they might be classified as “horror” but I considered them paranormal suspense—on the dark side. I was also probably one of the few high school students who read Edgar Allen Poe because I wanted to, not because I had to.

There’s something these authors have in common: I can buy into their stories. I can believe that a deranged clown is living in the sewers. I can believe that a golden retriever can be a genius. I can believe that a house can be haunted by an evil ghost. And I most certainly can believe in a psychopath who buries his victims alive.

I was thrilled when I sold my Seven Deadly Sins series. Why? Because I had wanted to write these books for years. I first came up with the idea in the summer of 2003—I planned on writing the first book as soon as I finished THE PREY. But I sold THE PREY, and focused on building an audience for my romantic suspense.

Still, the series haunted me. I had 150 pages written and I loved the story. I really wanted to write it. At the same time, I don’t know if I had the skill or the discipline to finish it six years ago.

When I sold the book to my publisher (Ballantine) I had four romantic thrillers still contracted to write. I itched to write the series, but needed to wait. I started collecting books on the paranormal to add to my then-small collection.

But I didn’t seriously think I was researching. The books I bought—like LILITH’S CAVE, THE BLACK ARTS, and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HELL—were as much out of interest in understanding supernatural events than for my series. In fact, being a paranormal story I figured I could just make everything up in my head, make up my own rules.

While there is some truth in that—paranormal authors do a lot more world-building than contemporary suspense authors—I had a fundamental problem. I had to believe it. I had to believe what I wrote, that it could happen.

As a Catholic, it’s pretty easy for me to believe in Heaven and Hell, demons and angels, good and evil. But as an author, I know that readers would be disappointed with a dues ex machina conclusion, so I made the conscious decision to not have angels swoop down and save the day. Are they helping? Maybe—but it’s more like the, “You need to read the signs” type of help using the basic philosophy of “God helps those who help themselves.”

I had to be able to sit down and not only imagine the Seven Deadly Sins as demons released from Hell by an evil occult, I had to figure out how it could be done, why they would do something so dangerous, and how it can be stopped. I had to believe that, while not necessarily plausible, that I could set up a world that I believed could actually exist. A world that I believed might even exist now.

My obsession with research grew. I bought books on witchcraft, demons, exorcisms, and the seven deadly sins in modern times. And even though I’m not specifically writing about ghosts, because I believe that ghosts exist, I needed to understand all the “rules” related to ghosts and when they manifest themselves and why.

I now have more books on the supernatural than I have a crime and punishment!

THE MATRIX is one of my favorite movies. When Morpheus explains to Neo about what The Matrix is, he says that the Matrix is still based on a world where there are rules. Some rules can be bent, and some can be broken. Thinking of my world-building in that way, I was able to establish a set of “rules” that worked for my idea while also keeping it grounded in the real world. I use forensics, I have a Sheriff who is a major character, I using police investigations. In fact, whenever I got stuck, I relied on what I knew well: crime and forensics. I took my favorite part of writing romantic suspense and joined it with my favorite part of the supernatural: the battle of good vs. evil, the endless possibilities, the imagination that goes into taking our world and twisting it just a bit to make something just a little different, a little more dangerous, a little scarier than the real world.

Is it any surprise that THE STAND by Stephen King is my all-time favorite novel?

The first book of my Seven Deadly Sins series (ORIGINAL SIN) is in production and I set-up a world that I’m locked into for the rest of the series. There’s something really scary in that—what if I screwed it up? What if it doesn’t work but I don’t realize it yet? It’s kind of terrifying. And as I write the second book in the series, I have to make sure I don’t contradict the rules I established in the first book.

When I was lamenting this problem to my mother, she said, “But it’s paranormal. It’s not real.”

Hello?!? I believe this stuff! I have to or I couldn’t write it. It’s why I’m writing about demons and not shape-shifters; witchcraft and not time travel. I’m sometimes jealous of the authors who can wholly suspend reality and create a completely different world with completely different rules. Maybe I’m just too grounded in this one to give it up. And it’s really nice to know that I have fifty-seven books on my shelf to reference.

I’ll be back later today to answer any questions, and I’m giving away a copy of my anthology, WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE, which has the story that is the prequel to my series.

Thank you to Cynthia for having me as a guest during the month of monsters. In theUK, we don’t celebrate Halloween as much as you do in the States, but it has become more popular in recent years, probably because of the American influence.

When someone mentions monsters, the first thing to come to mind is not fairies. But during the research I’ve done for my Magic Knot Fairy series, I’ve discovered plenty of monstrous creatures in fairy myth and legend. I’ve even created some of my own monsters for my series. A main secondary character in The Magic Knot and The Phoenix Charm is a nightstalker—a creature I created. (Although I suspect the name nightstalker has been used before.) My nightstalker is called Nightshade and he starts off as one of the bad guys. He is a beautiful black vampiric fairy with wings and a lot of attitude. The name Nightshade gives a clue to one of his powers. He can shift into a shadow form to move fast—great in a fight.

I love writing about paranormal creatures who go against type—monsters who are good. In The Phoenix Charm, I introduce a character who is a shadow elemental—a djinn otherwise known as a demon. Although he is powerful and dangerous, he defies his breeding to be an honorable character with a good heart.

The classic monsters such as vampires and demons can be scary, but for me the scariest monsters are not supernatural at all, but humans who may be possessed or just plain evil. And I’d rather come face to face with a vampire than a snake any day!

The latest book in The Magic Knot Fairies series is THE PHOENIX CHARM. Due out December 29.

He’s Pure Temptation.

Cordelia has sworn she’ll abstain from looking into Michael’s future—particularly when the image in the gilded smoke of her divination mirror shows him half naked. Yet she can’t resist watching the sexy rascal slowly running his hand down his ribs, over his abdomen, flicking open the button on his jeans with a little flourish like a magician performing a trick.

She’s Trying To Resist.

Respectable wise woman Cordelia restrains her secret water nymph sensuality with the Celtic symbols painted on her skin. But Michael’s powerful fairy glamour leaves her breathless, off balance, struggling for control. When Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh King of the Underworld, steals away Michael’s infant nephew, Cordelia must work with him to save the child. But how can she trust her instincts with Michael tempting her to explore the hidden elemental depths of her nature and insisting that she believe in the power of…The Phoenix Charm.

I also have a novella—THE FEAST OF BEAUTY— in The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance due out January 26.

Kate’s grandmother’s dying wish is that she should return her pearl pendant to the tiny fishing village in Ireland where she was born. At the village’s Midsummer Feast of Beauty, the unearthly silver hair and emerald eyes of Esras, the wealthy local landowner, mesmerize Kate. But how can she trust her heart to a man who claims to be a sea fairy king?

Leave a comment to tell me what type of monster you would least like to find in your bathtub! (Can be anything from a spider to vampire.) I’ll choose one commenter to receive a copy of The Magic Knot or The Phoenix Charm so please leave a contact email address.

Helen Scott Taylor

Adventure Fantasy Romance

Visit me at www.HelenScottTaylor.com for more information, and to read book excerpts.

Did you cry when you watched Frankenstein? So misunderstood.  The guy didn’t ask to be created, didn’t understand the world he’d woken to find.

Did you cry when King Kong died?  All the guy wanted was his pretty blond girlfriend.  Dying for love.  🙂

Sometimes, the monsters in books and movies can be so sympathetic that they slip past our guards and yes, they make us care.  When I found out that Jason (from the many, many Friday the 13th movies) was supposed to be a kid who’d drowned years before and that the camp counselors weren’t watching him–just weren’t paying attention while he struggled to live–he got my sympathy, too.

Those tricky monsters. Sometimes, they can sneak up on your emotions.

What monster has made you care? What monster got under your skin?  I’ll pick one commenter to win a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate.

Hi Cynthia!

Elizabeth Amber here for the Month of Monsters! Thank you so much for inviting me. I finished writing the first draft of my 5th novel, Dane, The Lords of Satyr, about two weeks ago. Since then, I’ve been reading like a demon. A fiend. Attacking the TBR stack I couldn’t get to for months.

I usually pick up a new book in the evening as I sit down with a glass of wine, often as a defense against my husband’s TV-watching tastes. Not that my tastes are more refined, but we’re just different. He rarely reads books, but devours magazines. However, if a book is really gripping, I’ll stay up till 4 in the morning to finish.

I was with a group of authors and readers a few nights ago, and I revealed the fact that I almost always decide which book I’m going to read by going through these steps, in this order. I . . .
1. Look at the cover
2. Read the back cover blurb
3. Read the first few pages
4. Read a random paragraph or two within the book
5. Read the ending

Number 5 drove everyone I was with insane. Is it really so unusual to do this? I’ve always done it. I had to come up with a reason why on the spot. People were really upset with me. Authors especially. I can understand that–we write a book in a certain order, and that’s the order we’d prefer events to be revealed to a reader.  I think the reason I read the endings early on is because I worry about the characters so much that I can’t bear to be in suspense. I’m so busy wondering what’ll happen to these characters I care about–if they’ll be okay–that I can’t focus on the story. Reading the ending doesn’t spoil the book for me.

So what are the steps you follow in reading a book? Do you ever read the ending before reading the book? Does it spoil things for you?

To celebrate Cynthia’s Month of Monsters, I’d like to give away a copy of my first novel, NICHOLAS, THE LORDS OF SATYR, to one person (over 18 in the USA) who drops a comment below. If you already have Nicholas, no problem. You can choose another of the satyr novels. Good luck and Happy Halloween!

Elizabeth Amber
erotic historical paranormal romance
Nicholas | Raine | Lyon | Dominic | Dane: The Lords of Satyr
Kensington Aphrodisia
excerpts: www.elizabethamber.com

Are you planning to dress up for Halloween this year? What are you going to be? I’m thinking about Medusa–should be easy enough to get some fake snakes to put in my hair!

If you’re looking for some costume ideas, check out this video. Interesting…

Let me know what you’d like to be for Halloween…I’ll pick one winner to win a mystery prize pack. Ah, yes *mystery* (that means a box full of paranormal books…just in time for Halloween!