Richelle Mead gave a very enlightening presentation at the Surrey International Writers' Conference in October, 2009. I found her to be as excellent a speaker as she is a writer and very open about the profession.
Here are the notes I scribbled down during her talk, for the most part resembling their point form counterparts in my notebook. This definitely does not encompass all of her presentation and I would definitely recommend anyone going to see her present if she returns to SiWC or any other writing conference.
Workshop Description:
The Undead Can be Sexy Too! Author Richelle Mead discusses the genres of Urban Fantasy and paranormal romance - the similarities, differences and overlaps, the trends in publishing and how to do your research.
Urban Fantasy (UF) - "Real world" with fantastic elements
Paranormal Romance (PR) - Similar to UF, but the primary plot is the difference
UF - May not end with a happy ending
PR - Will end with a happy ending
UF can be known to have darker elements whereas PR can be expected to have more light / funny elements, although these are extreme ends of the spectrum and many books are somewhere in between (she drew a diagram, which I copied, but don't know how to duplicate via typing).
Romance readers are the biggest piece of the fiction market. They give the writer a marketing edge, as romance readers are most likely to cross-read between genres. Often, UF crosses genres and can be shelved in a number of places in a book store. YA is generally shelved in YA, but can have PR or UF elements.
Examples of authors and the genres they write in:
- Charlaine Harris PR/UF
- Jim Butcher UF
- Jim Harrison UF
- Kelley Armstrong UF
- Patricia Briggs UF
- Laurell Hamilton UF
- Mary Janice Davidson UF
- Sherrilyn Kenyon PR
- Karen Marie Moning PR/UF
- Stephenie Meyer YA
- Cassandra Clare YA
- PC Cast YA/PR/UF
- Holly Black YA
- LJ Smith YA
Different beings / creatures that are used:
- Vampires
- Shape-shifters
- Fairies / faeries ...
- Witches
- Demons / angels
- Werewolves
- Mages / wizards
- Zombies - Mark Henry, Carrie Ryan
- Myth (gods, unicorns) - Neil Gamon, Diana Peterfreund
- Ghost, mystery - Kat Richardson
The biggest part of writing in either of these genres, no matter what is KNOW YOUR RULES! (because your readers will know them and they will point it out to you when you slip up)
Richelle discussed agents in the genre and recommended Preditors and Editors as a good place to go for information on agents and agencies.
Did anyone else see her present at SiWC? Do you have anything to add that I missed?
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