Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

... into Normal - or the Normal into Para?
Er - what did he say?
I said - well, not much so far (blush). But I think I'm going to. I should probably apologise in advance (blushes again).
So what the heck am I on about? Well, some time ago someone I know posted something about 'putting the Ordinary into Extra'. OK - it was me :-). But it was under my 'other hat', so I'm not going to tell you where it was. I'm being Tatter right now, and there's that whole 'shoes in the refrigerator and ice-cream in the shoe rack thing :-). But, in essence, it was about how maybe as readers we need the 'ordinary' as much as the 'extra' in fantasy and adventure. That even if we get high on the 'extra', it's the 'ordinary' we connect to. So yes, Iron Man can do some really cool things - but what keeps us reading, perhaps, isn't Iron Man putting a beating on, well, on someone who needs one. It's Tony Stark. It's Tony hiding his insecurity under arrogance and a weakness for the bottle. It's Tony needing to be loved so much he pushes anyone who looks like they might actually love him away, just in case he loses them.
I know. I'm blethering (blush).
But just like the 'Extra' and the 'Ordinary' - there's the 'Para' and the 'Normal'. And that's before we get to the 'Romance' :-). So, after far too many words - here's the thing. Is it the Para or the Normal that really holds you? Is it the things you maybe wish you could be, but know you never will (well, apart from the time that... but that's another story :-) ), or the things you recognise, because they've happened to you, even if not quite how the writer, um, wrote them?
Is it the Para in your Normal? Or the Normal in your Para? :-)

It's both. The romances are definitely part of what engages, but romance alone isn't what brings the reader in. If it were the reader would be buying "regular" romances. The Para is intriguing, but would not be worth reading if there wasn't a story line that captures the attention. And whether that story line is centered on romance, mystery, action, etc., it is the character development that holds the reader. Any really good read requires that the reader be able to make an emotional connection with the characters. In order to make that connection the characters must appear "real". That means a layered personality. They can't be all good or all bad. There has to be strength and weaknesses, positive character traits and flaws. The relationships, also, can't be "perfect". No romance, or any other relationship, is without it's bumps and challenges.

Lady Elizabeth
Greetings, wise one and fair! And that, I think, is my own view - or almost (blush). Because there are, to me at least, at least two 'reals' in a book. There is the 'real' of the book's world, the one a reader (hopefully) immerses themselves in, wraps round themselves and believes, at least while they're in the pages. And there's the intersection of that world with the one that wraps itself round them when they're _outside_ the pages. That the 'Para' should be able to fit with the reader's 'Normal', and the reader's 'Normal' with the 'Para', at least to some degree. That the reader can maybe walk out of their front door, and down the street, and even if just for a moment still believe they're in the book's world :-).
Of course, I'm an Idiot - and barn-pot crazy (blush).

Tatter, that isn't crazy at all. I can tell you, and you alone LOL, that when my "real" life becomes too painful or too stress filled I escape into the World of some author. For that reason, if no other, I support authors whenever I can. They are my heroes. They are the ones who make this World livable by giving an escape into the other "real" World.

The question kind of reminds me of the "rubber-suited" aliens question in scifi. For a story teller to connect the (presumably, haha) human readers to their work, they use aliens that are vaguely humanoid. If the artist doesn't, it's difficult to tell a coherent story.

For me, if you're going to make a supernatural creature be a hero in the story, or even a well-rounded antagonist, you have to give them those humanizing traits. Otherwise, the writer might as well write about hurricanes or tornadoes. What's the point, if the reader can't really connect with the character?

So, I guess, to me the "natural" in supernatural is what's important. It's about relatively normal people, or people who normal enough that you can connect with, dealing with extraordinary circumstances that are just BY FAR worse than what we're trying to escape by reading: bills, jobs we may hate, lost loves. Because, if those normal vampires, shifters, other supers, can cope with all these things, but still feel like a human, we can, too.

Greetings Lord (or indeed Lady - my apologies for my imprecision) Tory!
I find I think that way too - at least, in part. If a reader can't connect with the ordinary, it's probably harder to wrap them in the wonders of the 'extraordinary' :-). To believe a woman, or a man, can fly - as opposed to a blob with tentacles - provided said man - or woman - still has problems getting to work on time and getting a second date :-).

Welcome Tory. I like your insight. But, while being able to relate in a physical sense can make relating easier, it seems to me that being able to relate on an emotional or spiritual level is even more important. If I can believe that the character in a story is a being that is part of the interconnected web of life on a spiritual level, I can connect. That is why some "human" characters, those that are made to be all "good" or all "bad", are completely alien for me. The same goes for the fictional "World". I have to believe that the environment of the story has a interconnectedness. If not, it falls outside of my understanding of the spiritual aspect of life and is therefore not believable enough to "escape" into.

Hi Elizabath!

Sorry, I didn't explain myself. The whole "rubber alien" thing is in reference to doing that on an emotional/spiritual level, as well. Because, just like you pointed out, the story starts to fall apart if you make aliens as truly alien as they may be.

They turn into "things" instead of "characters."

So, yes!, totally agree.

I like a human drama first. It has to have believable characters who react in a believable ways, even to extraordinary situations.