While science fiction often deals with the world of tomorrow and fantasy often illuminates worlds that never were, paranormal romance and urban fantasy are—mostly—set in the world we live in. Sort of. I mean, as far as we know, our world isn’t actually populated by vampires, witches, elves, demons, or the other creatures that inhabit urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels. Paranormal romance and urban fantasy have roots in horror fiction and magical realism, in mystery and suspense, and in romance and pulp fiction. Accustomed to crossing boundaries, these paranormal romance and urban fantasy can be found in a number of sections in the bookstore, including romance, sf/f, general fiction, mystery, and on the teen/young reader shelves. Not to mention in film, on television, and in comics and graphic novels.
To showcase this diversity, we’ve rounded up half a dozen original pieces of short fiction, including the charming tale of an infant werewolf by A.M. Dellamonica and the investigation of theft and double-murder by a trio of magic-workers who don’t all trust or like each other, from C.T. Adams.
Among the awesome stuff in the queue for this month:
- Carrie Vaughan talks about researching werewolves
- Ron Hogan interviews Leanna Renee Hieber and others
- Anne Elizabeth and Cathy Clamp take on urban fantasy in comic books and graphic novels
- Liz Edelstein talks about heroes
- Alisa Kwitney looks at urban fantasy and paranormal romance themes in pop culture
- Artists Anne Cain and Franco Accornero share their creative processes
And including blog posts and more from:
- Marjorie M. Liu
- Kate Perry
- J.A. Pitts
- L.A. Banks
- Carolyn Jewel
- . . . and others
Plus an editors’ roundtable featuring Alicia Condon from Kensington, Chris Keesler from Dorchester, Heather Osborn from Tor Books, Monique Patterson from St. Martin’s Press, and Deb Werksman from SourceBooks.
PR/UF month fiction:
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07/06: Olga by C.T. Adams |
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07/12 The Ghost of Leadville by Jeanne C. Stein |
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07/15 Fare Thee Well by Cathy Clamp |
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07/19 A Stroke of Dumb Luck by Shiloh Walker |
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07/21 Bogieman by Carole Nelson Douglas |
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07/22 Eve of Sin City by S. J. Day |
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07/26 Fangs for Hire by Jenna Black |
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07/28 The Cage by A.M. Dellamonica |
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08/04 What Makes a River by Deborah Coates |
Here’s what’s been posted so far:
This isn’t the first time Tor.com has covered paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Check it out:
- Romance and Science Fiction, Sittin’ in a Tree and Steampunk Needs a Shot of—Wait for It—Romance by Heather Massey
- Buffy, “Intervention,” and King Lear by Marie Rutkoski
- Queering SFF: Writing Sex-To Do, or Not to Do?, Queering SFF: Wanting, Searching, Finding, Review of The Red Tree by Caitlin Kiernan, and Queering SFF: First Experiences by Brit Mandelo
- Book reviews by Elizabeth Bear: Margaret Ronald’s Wild Hunt, Laura Bickle’s debut novel Embers, and by Malinda Lo’s Ash.
- Theresa DeLucci’s ongoing recaps of True Blood season 3.
Enjoy!
Melissa Ann Singer is guest editor for Paranormal Fantasy and Urban Romance month on Tor.com. She is also an editor at Tor Books, and some other things too.
