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I picked up my first urban fantasy book to read after watching a short-lived series on the SciFi Channel, (as it was once known) called The Dresden Files. I’d tuned in because of a short mention in the newspaper TV listings about a show with a wizard named Harry who was the star of a bestselling book series, but he didn’t go to Hogwarts. Instead he was a PI in Chicago. Then I caught the reference in the credits that the book series was written by Jim Butcher. I headed for the library. I own all the Dresden books now, getting them via Pre-Order. But I do the same with Benedict Jacka’s Alex Verus series, Lisa Shearin’s SPI Files, and David Bussell’s Jake Fletcher stories, too. I read all of Kim Harrison’s Hollow’s books and Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, too.
The reason I picked up that first urban fantasy book was to read it as a palate cleanser, though. Reading something I had no intention of ever writing.
Then my muse pointed to a guy who’d been sitting in his waiting room since the late 1980s. He was juggling fire balls to amuse himself, occasionally tossing in water globes as a further distraction. When I mentally stopped in front of him and said, “I understand you’re looking for a job”, he told me he already had a job. He was a PI in Detroit who took down things the cops couldn’t take down, partly because they didn’t believe they existed. “You got a name?” I asked. “Bram Farrell,” he said. Weirdly, when I looked it up for what his name might mean, it turned out to be Raven Hero.
And The Raven Tales urban fantasy PI mystery comedy series was born.
There are a lot of snarky detectives in paranormal fantasy out there, some male, some female. Sometimes they aren’t snarky. Not everyone has an overdose of sarcasm in their makeup like I do. (My stepsons learned sarcasm from me and learned it well.) The folks who love urban fantasy can’t get enough of heroes and heroines who can hold their own against things that aren’t human or at least aren’t human anymore. Attitude is everything (with a good helping of ego) for a magic user. Snark frequently follows.
Bram’s not the only crime solving character with a series haunting my mental office these days. There are two other guys and a couple of ladies jostling for attention. These days, I spend far more time writing urban fantasy than I do reading it. A genre, and more than one niche within it, that I never expected to lose myself in.
Looking to lose yourself in the mix of mystery, magic, and non-human cast members (with or without comedy), join me for 4 weeks to not only build the world, get to know your main character or characters (these can be paranormal romances, too), but work on both standalone and story arcs for your own urban fantasy series!
The reason I picked up that first urban fantasy book was to read it as a palate cleanser, though. Reading something I had no intention of ever writing.
Then my muse pointed to a guy who’d been sitting in his waiting room since the late 1980s. He was juggling fire balls to amuse himself, occasionally tossing in water globes as a further distraction. When I mentally stopped in front of him and said, “I understand you’re looking for a job”, he told me he already had a job. He was a PI in Detroit who took down things the cops couldn’t take down, partly because they didn’t believe they existed. “You got a name?” I asked. “Bram Farrell,” he said. Weirdly, when I looked it up for what his name might mean, it turned out to be Raven Hero.
And The Raven Tales urban fantasy PI mystery comedy series was born.
There are a lot of snarky detectives in paranormal fantasy out there, some male, some female. Sometimes they aren’t snarky. Not everyone has an overdose of sarcasm in their makeup like I do. (My stepsons learned sarcasm from me and learned it well.) The folks who love urban fantasy can’t get enough of heroes and heroines who can hold their own against things that aren’t human or at least aren’t human anymore. Attitude is everything (with a good helping of ego) for a magic user. Snark frequently follows.
Bram’s not the only crime solving character with a series haunting my mental office these days. There are two other guys and a couple of ladies jostling for attention. These days, I spend far more time writing urban fantasy than I do reading it. A genre, and more than one niche within it, that I never expected to lose myself in.
Looking to lose yourself in the mix of mystery, magic, and non-human cast members (with or without comedy), join me for 4 weeks to not only build the world, get to know your main character or characters (these can be paranormal romances, too), but work on both standalone and story arcs for your own urban fantasy series!
