Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Sharon Ashwood | Making Paranormal Sandwiches
Romance / October 10, 2008

There’s a lot to be said for the submarine sandwich. There can be as much bread, cheese, veggies and cold cuts as the maker desires. If you want two kinds of cheese, go ahead. Mayo and mustard? Why not? The only limit is appetite. Which is all good until your boss points to a sandwich box made for the usual peanut butter and jelly sized affair. That moment of “hmm, how am I going to get this sucker in there?” sums up my experience of writing the paranormal romance. I have to tell a many-layered story as clearly and efficiently (and as briefly!) as I can. For any author, there’s a lot on the kitchen counter when they’re building the universe of their book: there’s character, plot, and setting, plus: In a romance, there’s the whole fall-in-love experience. If it’s a historical novel, the author needs to bring the past alive, right down to the horseshoe nails, gun smoke and corsets. If it’s science fiction, fantasy, or paranormal, there’s the whole supernatural universe, with its vast array of creatures, rules of magic, and other cultures to explain and make compelling. For a good paranormal or urban fantasy romance, where you…