What is romantasy writing? What are the differences between romantasy vs. fantasy writing? Or paranormal romance?
I began as a fantasy writer, having grown up with Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts and many other incredible worlds. Fantasy, of course, is full of fantastical elements, like magic systems, creatures and races such as elves, dwarves, dragons, unicorns, and a world reminiscent of the Middle Ages, with sword-fighting, castles, and dangerous quests in wild lands.
Most fantasy stories are epic hero adventures. But what happens when you add romance as the main driver? Now you have paranormal romance on the next level. Romance between humans and peoples such as the fae or vampires. Unbelievable foreign worlds dripping in unexpected magic and strange cultures. Vibrant, sweeping worlds of untamed nature, hidden cities, ancient dungeons – all swirling with mystery, danger, and adventure. With sizzling sex scenes – that’s romantasy!
It used to be called paranormal romance, which covered any kind of romance with paranormal elements, like Twilight. But when it’s in an immersive fantasy world, you now have the new, hot genre of romantasy – and it’s been raging like wildfire. Romantasy tends to have quite a high heat rating in the bedroom scenes. YA romantasy will have less, like the ACOTAR series, aiming for teen and young adult readers. Adult romantasy has no limitations, so you’ll find a variety of spice, some with enough heat to blow the turrets off. (Be forewarned if you tumble into my stories!)
What If It Happened by Accident?
What if you one day you think, it might be fun to write erotica? Then, in the midst of personal crisis, what if you have an actual experience from the other side of the veil? Suddenly you find yourself encountering the wild fae, and being led down the craziest adventure ever heard tell?
You can’t tell anyone about it, of course, as they would think you’ve lost your marbles. You know you are not crazy, and yet these adventures keep happening and are as real as anything you’ve experienced before. What do you do? You write them down, record every detail, in a secret journal locked with a password. You wonder and try to figure out what’s happening, often doubting if it’s actually real, then find yourself being pulled back in come nightfall. And you know it is real as you are plunged into the next visceral adventure.
You journal it all, accepting each adventure as it comes, not understanding it. Eventually you begin to write it into a book. But it won’t be accepted as non-fiction, so you decide to make it a fiction. You struggle with how much to stick to the real story, and how much to fictionalize it, to add storytelling elements, like any good novel. How much should you change it, how much to stick to how it actually happened?
Then, one day, you realize that the adventures you’ve had are like the highlights of the book, the top moments. But what happened in between? Maybe only the most vivid scenes are all you remember come morning, those specific adventures which need to be in the book. Suddenly you give yourself permission to “imagine” what scenes and chapters and actions happened in between the pivotal moments.
Next thing you know, you sit down to write, and the Muse takes over. The words and story flows out of your mind in such unexpected ways, you are shocked with every chapter, staying up well past midnight to see what happens next.
You weave the new parts in between the scenes you experienced and remember fully. And you wonder, “Am I just making these other parts up? Or is my writing bringing forth what actually happened, but not remembered come morning?”
The answer could be either. Maybe the memories of further details are vining all over the page. Or maybe the fae are allowing you to use your own imagination to create the story in the way that you need, or are most excited by. Who knows?
Our imagination is the door, the portal, to the fairy fen, after all.
Welcome to Book 1: Bartholomew: A Fairy Tale.
