Lovely readers, please join me in welcoming my very first guest. Shannon O'Brien is the author of Winter Twilight, a short story that's appearing in the new anthology "Snowbound Hearts" from Still Moments Publishing. I met Shannon in a fiction workshop at the Write On The Sound conference last October, so I can say for certain that not only is she a nice girl, but she's a hell of a writer. Hope you enjoy her post here and that you check out "Snowbound Hearts".
Peace,
Liv
Why do we love charming dead beings surviving on
liquid diets, tantalizing were-animals howling in the night, and provocative
phantoms popping in and out of bedrooms?
What would sexy supernatural leading men-thingy’s give the female
protagonist a handsome human couldn’t?
I don’t know.
I’ve never personally met any sparkling vampires or buff shape-shifters,
even though I live a few hours from Forks and LaPush, WA. But boy do we love to read about them! And
fall in love with them!
Maybe the idea of having a partner who is ethereally
and eternally handsome is a huge factor.
Or maybe the centuries of honing their kissing and petting skills
entices us? I mean, let’s face it, young
men tend to be fumbling novices and young women spend tons of time hinting and
shifting and leading in order to train them correctly. But stumbling across an experienced
supernatural being would have serious advantages.
Now, our sexy human men have a lot to offer
too. It is nice to curl up to a strong,
warm body in bed. And something as
simple as a bouquet of roses or smoldering glances in our direction would send
the pulse a-racing. Don’t let the fact
that they snore loudly or hog the remote discourage you.
I mean, we’re not perfect either.
But maybe that’s why we crave supernatural
beings. Does reading about them and
their attractions to the human woman make us feel perfect? Could a being as imperfect as a monster make
a self-conscious woman feel alluring and special? Is that what we crave when we read paranormal
romances or urban fantasies?
Possibly.
Most of those female protagonists, while they are often insecure, are
also bad-asses themselves. And maybe
they thrive on the fact that they can run with vampires, tame werewolves, love demons
and battle warlocks and come out alive. They
may be a little beat up, may be a little battered, and may be loved, but they
are alive and wiser and less…insecure.
But don’t discount human men just yet. There’s something magical about non-magical
folk. In my short story, Winter Twilight, available January
9 through Still Moments Publishing (www.stillmomentspublishing.com),
my young, recently divorced protagonist, Teagan O’Leary, moves to a new city
and stumbles around trying to get her bearings on her new life. She meets her human co-worker, James Gulsoy,
a tall dark-haired honey who works as a loading dock manager. But when she finds out he’s a secret front-man
for an up and coming rock band, and the love poems in her locker are from
him…well let me ask you, who the heck would want an incubus over a hot rock star?
I think it’s safe to say, sexy paranormal leading
men-thingy’s are awesome to read about and dream about and drool over, but human
men keep us warm at night and grow old with us and make us feel alluring and
special too. As so they should.
Shannon O’Brien transplanted to Seattle, WA from Southern California in the late 1990’s and is constantly mesmerized by the mountains, lakes and grandeur of the Pacific Northwest. She is a wife, a mother of two young boys, and warden to a sweet Boxer and a sassy old black cat. She encourages everyone to visit Puget Sound and even knows there really are sparkling vampires in Forks and a Sasquatch in the Cascade Mountains. Trust her, she’s a fiction writer. You can keep an eye on what Shannon's up to here: http://shannonobrienauthor.wordpress.com/.
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