Chasing the Dark

Chasing the Dark

In case you were wondering, I’ve never had sex with a vampire. Or a succubus, or anything else that can change shape.

Honestly, I think if something morphed in front of me I probably wouldn’t handle it well. I’d surely throw things and make unladylike noises and such. I surely wouldn’t want to have sex with it.

Fortunately, my characters are not me. They’re up for a good time, open-minded and willing to deal with fur or fangs or whatever other appendage or skin type that comes their way. In my story “For All Eternity” from Women of the Dark Streets (Bold Strokes Books), my character falls in lust with something not human (I won’t tell you what manner of not-human, because that would ruin the story), and it has potentially fatal consequences.

One of the difficulties of writing paranormal is making the not-normal sexy. It’s making the dark underbelly erotic, and while plenty of people do it well and do it often, I’m not generally one of them. So I toyed with a modern-day villain, one you could pass on the street and not know could feast on you for lunch. Because I’m fascinated with the idea of these ancient mythological creatures being in our midst as we go about our techno driven everyday lives.

What is it about these creatures that makes us want more? Paranormal fiction is huge right now, with stories about diamond skinned psuedo-vampires flying off the shelves and deeply sexual, blood riven tales on the television the moment the watershed hour passes.

I think it’s because we want to see the ‘other’. The kind of other without restraint, without taboos, without morals or black and white versions of good and bad. And we want a world rife with sex and adoration and a Pandora’s box of emotional baggage. We want to be taken away from our everyday lives to places where we can be more, expect more, where the sun doesn’t necessarily rise when it’s supposed to and the bad guys can be so, so good. And there are a million ways to get to these creatures of the dark–walking down a street, falling through a painting, walking into a wardrobe. The fact remains that the bad-girl, the girl who stands outside the crowd, is the one we want, the one who makes us twitch in the night when our fantasies have a chance to come to life. Like my character in “For All Eternity”, we crave the knife’s edge, even when we can sense a certain fatality in the making. And even if the character isn’t all that dark, but is unquestionably from a place the rest of us don’t see as we brush our teeth and head to work for the day, we sense that special something that makes us want to pull them to us, slip into their souls or let them take ours. Just for a glimpse of something extra-ordinary.

In my story “All the Colors of the Sun” in the forthcoming anthology She-Shifters, my character gets a hell of a lot more than a good days surfing when a woman washes up at her feet. I’m a little bit in love with my paranormal character. I hope you will be too.

 

6 thoughts on “Chasing the Dark

  1. I love any paranormal so I’m sure I will love your stories as well. I have been told I have a vivid imagination. Which has me thinking of all kinds of story ideas. I do find it harder to work the erotic with the paranormal but that is also the case with any of the other stuff that people consider not normal. I’m still learning the writing craft so its more of that part I have more of writing what I got in my head. The more I write the better my stories are and the easier it it to get them on paper. I will be getting your books that is for sure. I love to read as much as I love to write. Thanks for all that you do for the craft of writing and much success in the future.

  2. Great post, Victoria. I agree that paranormal gives us a taste of
    “the other” without fear or limitations. Writing these stories does the same for me. I can let my imagination fly.

    I look forward to reading “All The Colors of the Sun” in SHE-SHIFTERS!

    Best–Adele

    1. Thanks Adele! I’m really looking forward to reading your story too, just as I enjoy reading everything you write!

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