Update:  Time for winners!  The winner of FAERIES GONE WILD is Barb Patric!  And the winner of THE HIGHWAYMAN is bridget3420!  Congrats!!!

I’m actually in the middle of reading Michele Hauf‘s latest release now (FAERIES GONE WILD), and I’ve got to say–it’s great.  🙂  If you’re looking for a hot paranormal author, then should definitely check out Michele’s stories.  Welcome, Michele!

(And, guess what?  Michele will be giving out not just one great prize today, but two!!  She will giveaway a signed copy of THE HIGHWAYMAN and a copy of FAERIES GONE WILD. Be sure to comment for your chance to win!)

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I Kissed A Demon (And I Liked It)

Ok, so I didn’t actually kiss one.  That would be…creepy.  But I am coming around, meaning, I’m finally beginning to see the sexy side of demons.

My first paranormal romance, Dark Rapture (pubbed in ‘97) was about vampires.  I lurve me some vampire.  Vampires.  Nom.  I’ve been very happy writing vampires.  They are sexy, aristocratic, never have one of those orange overdone suntans, and even if they do bite on the first date, it’s a kiss to remember.

The paranormal romance genre has exploded over the past few years.  Werewolves are seeing their day in the spotlight.  I never had an interest in the hairy dudes.  Leave them for those authors who write them well.  Until a werewolf walked in as a secondary character in one of my stories.  Oh, man, I love those hairy guys now!

Which brings me to demons.  Demons, to me, used to fall on the same level as werewolves.  No, to be honest, they were actually much lower, the lowest of the low when it came to feasible romantic heroes.  I just could not see not.  Couldn’t wrap my head around a demonic being actually being tender and a love interest.  Case in point: I did the Dark Enchantments series with three friends for Nocturne.  Each of the other three had demon heroes.  I told them “Nope, can’t do it.  Can’t do a heroic demon.”  So in my book, I had a demon hunter who slayed every demon in sight.  And my upcoming July release, The Highwayman, features another demon slayer.  He wields a whip that glows with anti-demon sigils, slicing demon heads off left and right.  Hey, it’s fun kicking demon butt!

But some switch flipped in my brain recently.  I confess, my current work in progress features a demon hero.  A real live, conjured-from-the-depths-of-Hell demon.  I initially balked at this hero.  What the heck?  He should be the villain, yes?  How can some demon whose flesh is forged from black steel and whose black blood runs with a rage for slaying angels ever hold a mortal heroine tenderly and understand the concept of love?  That’s when the switch flipped.  What an awesome challenge!  I’ve always liked dark, damaged heroes, and demons are as dark and damaged as they come.  What a man to try and redeem on the page!  (And if he looks like Gerard Butler?  Oh yeah!)

So I guess what I’ve learned (and am constantly learning) is never say never when it comes to the paranormal and the vast variety of characters a writer can play with.  I’ve expanded my reading interests with this new attitude as well.  Used to be all—wait for it—vampires.  Now I slip some demons into my TBR pile every once in a while, alongside the weres and faeries and shapeshifters.

Demons rock!

Michele

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.