Running With Quills: Jayne Interviews a Real Live Editor About Paranormal Romance

Welcome to Running With Quills, your online newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what your favorite authors (that would be us) are doing throughout the year. Here you will find the release dates of our new books and get information about our backlists. We'll preview our cover art here long before the books hit the stores and we'll keep you informed about works-in-progress and special projects. You'll also receive advance notice of signings and appearances. From time to time we'll give you a peek at our worlds, tell you what we're reading, and introduce you to some new authors.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Jayne Interviews a Real Live Editor About Paranormal Romance

Jayne: Today we have with us Cindy Hwang, Executive Editor at Berkley Publishing Group. If you read paranormal romance, you've read Cindy's authors because she is publishing the hottest paranormal writers in the business.

Jayne: Working as an editor at Berkley Publishing Group you were one of the few in mainstream publishing who saw the paranormal romance wave coming and you wasted no time scooping up the hottest authors. How did you know the paranormal was going to go so big, so fast?

Cindy: Honestly, I really didn't know that paranormal romance would be the Next Big Thing. But, the fact that it's become enormously popular doesn't really surprise me either. I think the interest in paranormal romance can be attributed to a number of factors: 1) it reflects pop culture on a broader basis (TV, films, interest in other genres like sci fi/fantasy); 2) the paranormal subgenre is nearly limitless in the types of story one can tell--the only limitation is the writer's imagination; 3) because of the freedom the subgenre offers there are lots of fabulous, fresh voices paired with strong world-building--basically a lot of really good books are being written; 4) the people who love these books REALLY REALLY love them and are very quick to spread good word-of-mouth and share their find with others (the growth of the internet has really helped paranormal romance in particular)--I think this comes from literally years of having very few paranormal romances to read so fans don't take these books for granted.

Jayne: So how come you became so interested in the paranormal?

Cindy: Because I personally love paranormal romance and have for most of my life (nothing fired my imagination more when I was growing up than the Fairy Books of Andrew Lang; toss in the Frank Langella version of Dracula and a visit to the Winchester Mystery House when I was 8, and voila! A fascination with all things paranormal is born),

Jayne: Oh, hey, I grew up in California. I know the Winchester Mystery House!!!!

Cindy: I'm fortunate to work for a publisher who encourages editors to buy what they love, even when general market trends aren't favorably inclined. As a reader, I've always responded to strong voices, strong world-building and strong storytelling, and through the years I've noticed that the subgenre that consistently delivers all these things for me is paranormal romance. Again, for me, I think a lot of the appeal of paranormal romance is rooted in it's use of archetypes and larger-than-life concepts and ideas (i.e., a love that defies death)--I just respond to it on a gut level. I've just been lucky that a lot of readers seem to feel the same way. It's definitely an exciting time to be a fan!

Jayne: Who are some of the authors you are publishing?

Cindy: Some of my authors include Christine Feehan, Lori Foster, Angela Knight, Emma Holly, MaryJanice Davidson, Suzanne Simmons/Elizabeth Guest, Virginia Kantra, Pamela Clare, Eileen Wilks, Sunny, Alesia Holliday, Nalini Singh, Cathie Linz, Linda Castillo, Lisa Valdez, Barbara Bretton, Karen White, Erin McCarthy and Maureen McKade. I like a wide variety of romance subgenres and styles, and I try to reflect that in the authors I acquire and work with.

Jayne: People speak of the paranormal romance as a single genre but you see several subdivisions within it -- some more successful than others. What works within the realm of the paranormal and what doesn't?

Cindy: In the 1990's, fueled by the popularity of Constance O'Day-Flannery and Jude Deveraux's KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR, time travel was easily the most popular subset within paranormal. I remember reading traditional Regency romances in the early 80's that featured time travel. Berkley even devoted a whole romance line to time travel romance called Time Passages. Many readers didn't consider time travels to be paranormal though, because they often read like straight historicals once the hero/heroine traveled to the past (the books usually moved from present to past). So the success of time travel romance didn't extend very far to other paranormal romances. Ghost romances were also very popular for a while (thanks in part to the movie GHOST) and its cousin, the angel romance, had it's day in the mid to late 90's as well.

Jayne: So, what's happening today in the realm of the paranormal?

Cindy: Today, paranormal romance is definitely divided into several subdivisions--there's dark fantasy/horror, where I would put all the vampires, werewolves, witches etc. used in a darker universe and tone. On the opposite end there's funny paranormal, which often can have a chick lit veneer to the voice and stories. There's also futuristic/sci fi romance, and pure fantasy romance. There still the occasional time travel or ghost romance, but the most popular creature now is the vampire. You definitely see more darker, edgier, sexier paranormal romances now, but really there are books all along the paranormal spectrum. There are truly books for every taste.

Jayne: What is this Urban Fantasy sub genre that people are talking about?

Cindy: Ginjer Buchanan, an editor at Berkley/Ace who has edited Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris among others, and I often discuss what constitutes Urban Fantasy. There's some paranormal romance that can be classified as Urban Fantasy, and we've been working on ways to promote authors and books in both ponds since we know there's a large crossover readership. When you get down to it, Urban Fantasy is a true cross-genre subgenre. Basically, Urban Fantasy can be defined as fiction that features preternatural creatures interacting with humans or other beings in a non-hidden manner. The world is contemporary and often a mirror of our own world, with the addition of preternatural creatures. The setting is usually urban, although not always. The tension often comes from the conflict of having the preternatural beings exist somewhat uneasily in a larger society made of non-magical beings. The protagonist is usually female, and there can be some kind of romantic element, but what propels the plot is not the romantic relationship--more likely, the plot is suspense-oriented.

Jayne: Are you still actively seeking paranormal manuscripts?

Cindy: Absolutely, though it takes a lot to knock my socks off these days. I think that sometimes writers try too hard to come up with something that's never been done, and forget that most important thing is still the writer's voice and storytelling ability, and not the paranormal elements.

Jayne: Meanwhile, what's happening with the more traditional romance market: historicals and contemporaries?

Cindy: Never fear, historical and contemporary romances are alive and well! Not everyone loves paranormal, of course, and in this age of diversity, I think it's more important than ever to give readers a choice. So publishers are still committed to buying and publishing historical romance and contemporary romance (romantic suspense, romantic comedy and contemporary romance). The problem comes when we can't find the quality we're looking for, because writers have decided that these subgenres won't sell and thus are no longer writing in these areas. It is true that for the most part, the historical and contemporary romance market isn't as strong right now as paranormal, but I think we (editors, publishers and readers) have been reading romance long enough to know that everything cycles around, and that as long as good books are being published in these subgenres, there will always be markets for them.

Jayne: Thank you so much, Cindy, for chatting with us today. Readers: Tell us about your experience with the paranormal!

23 Comments:

Karibear said...: Ah,a virgin blog!

Fascinating interview. I've loved Laurell K Hamilton since the very first one I read, though I thought it was a lot funnier than it was probably meant to be - I grew up in St Louis, and I could just imagine how some of the inhabitants would react!

As for Urban Fantasy, I always thought Charles de Lint was the epitome of the UF writer. 'Dreams Underfoot' is one of my all-time favorites.; 10:00 PM
Ranurgis said...: There are certain types of paranormal that I'm quite comfortable with: time-travel, unusual senses, and a few of the more non-threatening werewolf stories I've read. Well, I imagine futuristic and sci-fi/fantasy are also part of paranormal. I also don't mind the world- and word-building.

What I definitely do not like is the demons, "vampires, werewolves, witches, used in a darker universe and tone" as Cindy says. I tried to read some short stories with vampires in them to see if maybe I was mistaken about my "disgust" of these creatures. But, as I may have mentioned, I'm definitely a wimp about blood and pain and really can't find anything funny or romantic in being "bitten", though that is the title of one book that I enjoyed quite a bit: "Bitten" by Kelley Armstrong.

Since she lives not all that far from here, I thought I'd at least give it a try and I really enjoyed it. The witches she portrayed are also more human and humane for the most part but I haven't gone beyond her third book yet. Although there were some gruesome happenings in these books, they were no worse than a lot of books about crimes being committed and certainly less graphic than some.

I'm glad that Cindy also believes that the tide will turn again or at least will even out. And I, for one, hope that at least some of my favorite authors will decide not to follow the "horror-type" paranormal. In case it becomes a total epidemic, I've at least assured myself of having enough books to read for a number of years when I won't want to buy what is "popular". Already I'm finding fewer books by new authors that catch my fancy. I guess I should consider it "a good thing". Maybe I'll end up spending less money on books and have more to spend on other things.

BTW, after you mentioned some "interaction" with books that you have already written with the "Arcane" books, I thought I'd see if the Guinevere Jones books might be connected--the last name thing. Well, I found nothing paranormal in the first one but it was a great read. I loved the part about the "frog" and the fern trying to drink his tequila. Though this is not a comedy per se, there was so much humour in the whole book that I was constantly laughing and giggling. I don't know how you do it. Of course, in the case mentioned it's really the picture it presents but elsewhere it's just the use of a certain word or an implied glance. I really wish I had time to reread them all right now.

P.S. I still have to get to "Ghost Hunter". I didn't expect to end up reading all of "The Desperate Game". I just wanted to see if it fit into your new series somehow.; 11:48 PM
Karibear said...: Oops, I forgot all about my own paranormal experiences.

Once when my granny was a little girl playing under a tree in their yard - a farm in Illinois, somewhat before 1900 - and her mother ran out and grabbed her and took her inside. A few minutes later, a runaway team of horses smashed a wagon against the tree where she'd been sitting.

When my mother was a teenager, my granny refused to let her go on a picnic that had been planned for some time. It was unusual, because she had quite a busy social life, and she was livid over it. Then it turned out the girl who'd gone to take her place drowned.

When I was small, my mother came upstairs to my room - it was an attic converted to 2 bedrooms - and took me downstairs. A few minutes after that, the blade came off the window fan and skittered right across where I'd been playing on the floor.

When I was about 17 or so, for about a year I heard footsteps creaking around my room. This was totally strange, since we lived in a house that didn't have wooden floors, it was a ranch-style on a cement slab. And I had a street light that shined in my window, so it was always light, bright enough to read by, in fact. I never felt haunted, I always thought it was my grandfather coming back to see how I was doing. It was a reassuring presence, anyway. The last visit was right before I graduated from high school. I got a strong sense of satisfaction and approval and confidence that whatever I did would work out right.

Later when I'd moved to Alaska, I hiked up the mountain behind the town. Coming back down I got the most incredible feeling of malevolence I've ever come across. I would almost have thought a bear was hiding watching me, but I had my dog with me and he wasn't at all bothered. If there'd been any other way to get down, I'd have taken it - walking through that cloud of nastiness was like wading though emotional molasses.

So, that's the paranormal side of my life.; 11:51 PM
Ranurgis said...: Thanks so much, Jayne, for that interview. After what I read just yesterday, I was beginning to think that all authors would eventually jump on the bandwagon. I've already decided not to get books by some authors who are now writing more vampire or other similar books.

So this is a bit of a reassurance from a definite insider. I guess at the moment the writers of paranormals are still pushing the limits farther and higher though Cindy says "it takes a lot to knock my socks off these days."

Thanks again, Jayne. (hmm, it rhymes!); 12:00 AM
Lori Foster said...: How cool. Cindy is such an expert on the romance genre. I love working with her!
Thanks for the great interview, Jayne!

Lori; 6:27 AM
DFender said...: Hmmm. My experience with paranormal? I LOVE IT!

Anne Rice's books were my very first fantasy/paranormal reads. I loved 'em then and I love 'em now. Eroticism linked with paranormal/fantsay romance would be my favorite kind of this genre.

Laurell K. Hamilton, Jayne, Christine Feehan, JK Ward, Sara MacKenzie, Kim Harrison, Katie Macalister, Lori Handeland, Karen Marie Moning, etc. are all favorites of mine.

I'll read an entire series and then look for the next author. I'll read the first in that series and if I'm into it I'll go out and buy all the rest. These are ranked right up there in my keeper library. Each time a new book in a series comes out I'll go back to reread the last one so that I'm current and so that the story is in the front of my little pea brain.

Geez, the imagination of any author is astounding to me. Thank gawd for allayaz.

Great interview, Jayne. Nice to get a "peek" into the editing world.

Deb

hytim: Ohh, he musta done something really bad!; 6:30 AM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Ranurgis: Nope, no connection between those old G. Jones books and the Arcane Society series. Honestly, I'm always amazed that there are folks out there who actually found and read the G. Jones series. The printruns on those books were so small it is a wonder they turned up in bookstores!

Sadly, like my early futuristics, those G. Jones books nearly killed my career.

Come to think of it and speaking of the paranormal, I've certainly had a lot of "near death" career experiences!

--Jayne; 6:33 AM
Suzanne Simmons said...: Great interview, Jayne!

Cindy Hwang has the best instincts in the business when it comes to all kinds of womens' fiction. It's an honor to work with her.

And I should know. I've had 17 or 18 editors since I started writing in the romance genre!

Suzanne Simmons
aka Elizabeth Guest; 8:13 AM
elizabeth said...: Since I started out my writing career in science fiction, it's no surprise I latched on to the paranormal romance, beginning with Christine Feehan.

So far, Feehan, J.R. Ward, and Marjorie M. Liu are my faves, as in I'm a raving fan!; 10:14 AM
Estella said...: I love the paranormal books. Have read at least one book by all of the authors mentioned.; 12:03 PM
Cheryl said...: I like my paranormal romances to contain a lot of humor. The dark occultish stuff just creeps me out.

I'm so glad there is a wide variety of styles and subgenres that I can always find something I like. The trouble is getting my public library to buy all the ones I want to read. (Can't afford the 200 a year I read!); 2:02 PM
DFender said...: Damn. I lost my first try at posting this time.

I actually meant JR Ward (Dark Lover, Lover Eternal, etc.) I'm currently re-reading Lover Eternal since I'm picking up Zsadist's story this weekend.

I'll hafta give Liu a try too since I love both Feehan and Ward.

Thanks, Betty...lol

Deb; 4:27 PM
Dani said...: Jayne waas just ahead of her time with the first paranormals.

as I was told it's different for each reader and writer, you change and grow, well some do anyway. :)

also nice reading in spring weather; 9:23 PM
wendywoo/Portia Da Costa said...: Excellent interview! Really interesting and informative.

But what stopped me in my tracks was the image. It's *exactly* the same one that's on the January 07 reprint of GOTHIC BLUE, an erotic paranormal I originally wrote in 1996!

Love

Wendywoo
aka Portia Da Costa; 12:02 PM
Stella said...: Cindy and Jayne: Insightful and informative article. Thanks so much.

Best, Stella; 7:55 PM
Shalanna Collins said...: I have two paranormal romances (with chicklitty overtones to one of them) that I'm trying to figure out how to market. Does editor Cindy Hwang take unagented queries? (I have the worst luck with agents--I think I would do better with an editor!)

If anyone knows, please talk to me over on my LJ at shalanna dot livejournal dot com . . . I'm pathetic and just need that one little bitty break. (wry grin); 12:46 AM
Kris said...: I have only been reading romance for about 4 years but I am loving the current popularity of paranormal. That has always been my favorite, but they were always harder to find. My favorite books as a teen were by Annette Curtis Klause and Mercedes Lackey. Even in elementary school, my favs were books with witches and fantasy. I read fantasy/sci-fi for many years and then realized that my favorite book were those with a romantic element, so I decided to try romance. Read historical because that was all I knew about then about 9 months later I discovered "paranormal romance" I was ecstatic, I had found my genre! Okay, i will stop rambling, I just started gushing and could not stop. Thanks Ms Hwang for the great books that you have helped bring to light.; 4:08 AM
Ranurgis said...: Jayne, why would most people not read the G. Jones books? I thought they were great. Nothing really different from your normal series books of that time. All that was really different about these was that they were a quartet and more supenseful books. Was the suspense that wasn't "in"? Did that really come much later than your 4? Or was it that it was about the same characters? I must admit that it was difficult for me to find them here in Canada. I'm not sure how I found them to begin with since they weren't displayed with the Harlequins and Silhouettes, of course, and most other romances were historical. I'm just glad that I did find yours and Anne Stuart's. And later, doubles of some of both sets.

I do remember and I think mentioned it before that when I found the "Romantic Times" in which "Sweet Starfire" was given a 5-Star rating, the bookstore owner's opinion was that you were "taking it too far" or similar words. I don't know if I was just more adventurous or what, but I immediately loved that book too. I know now it sounds as if I'm not adventurous about reading some types of paranormals but I guess it's just the things based on blood, voodoo, and other really weird/gory things that I can't stand. I know someone, maybe even you, once mentioned something about the vampire's bite being a symbol of the ultimate sexual "experience" or whatever, I guess, meaning "I truly want to become a part of you."

And yes, I guess you and Elizabeth were just ahead of the times with the paranormal and suspense elements if I'm right in thinking that it was maybe the suspense elements that weren't wanted in the Jones series.

I guess it's always hard when you're far ahead of everyone else in any type of art: architecture, writing, painting, music, etc.; 6:31 PM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Ranurgis: If I had to guess, I'd say that the problem with the G. Jones books was not just the heightened suspense element but the fact that they featured the same couple in each book. Readers just didn't want to follow that couple through four books. I had the same problem with my Lavinia & Tobias stories under my AQ name. (Obviously other writers can pull this off, but I didn't manage it).

And, yes, I did say in another essay that the vampire biting the heroine is a modern, high-tech way of describing the classic "wedding night" scene or "forced seduction" that used to be so popular in historicals.

We pride ourselves on being too sophisticated for those "virgin and rake" stories now but, in truth, we have recreated them with the vampire romance.

Fascinating. There really is nothing new under the sun.

--Jayne; 7:27 PM
Dani said...: I read someone's else 3 book set, well I tried to anyway, and yet I read with ease Jayne's threesome sets that I have. Lavinia and Tobias are on my keeper shelf by the way.; 5:43 AM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Thanks, dani! I appreciate that more than I can say!

---Jayne; 11:10 AM
Cindy Hwang said...: Thanks for all the nice comments on the interview--I'm glad people found it both enlightening and entertaining!

karibear--wow, what spooky experiences! I've never had any real ghostly ones myself, but my imagination has always gone into overdrive after any scary movies and experiences. I'm the type to always check outside my shower curtain to make sure there isn't a psycho with a knife hanging outside, lol! Even Disney's Haunted Mansion ride spooked me--of course, I think I was about 9 at the time. But still!

I know it seems like authors are jumping on the paranormal bandwagon right now, but there are many many authors out there who've always wanted to write paranormal but were told that nobody wanted to read it. So they put their stories away. Now that the doors are wide open, can anyone really blame them for wanting to write something they've always wanted to do? The popularity of this subgenre has been simmering for years, and has been fed intermittenly by Jayne's futuristics (LOVE them), the time travels and occasional ghost story. Now there's a veritable banquet, and some people are going to gorge and get sick and lose their taste, while others will pace themselves so they can get to the dessert. Now how's that for a metaphor? ;-) You can see why I'm an editor and not a writer! In any case, if readers pick and choose, they'll find that there's a huge variety at the paranormal table, something to satisfy every taste and there's no longer any need to just chow down indiscriminately. Hmm, I guess instead of a pre-fixe dinner menu, it's rather more of an all-u-can eat buffet. Okay, enough of the food talk!

Shalanna--you don't have to have an agent to submit to me--I prefer 3 chapters and a synopsis to only a query letter. But remember, it has to knock my socks off! ;-)

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask--I'll be popping in on and off to check. This is my first venture into blog land, and it's been really fun!

Cindy; 2:16 PM
Dani said...: Jayne Interviews a Real Live Editor About Paranormal Romance well I don't think you would get anything out of a dead one :); 2:02 AM

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Sunday, September 24, 2006

Jayne Interviews a Real Live Editor About Paranormal Romance

23 Comments: