Publishers Weekly looks ahead to the upcoming books in the paranormal subgenre, some featuring romantic threads and others that are true romances. It starts out with statistics for Sherrilyn Kenyon’s books. She has over 17 million copies of her books in print in 35 countries and has managed six #1 placements on the NYT bestseller list in over a year.
After paying homage to Kenyon, the article turns toward the pesky problem of labeling but provides the following for differentiation between the multiple sub genres dealing with other worldly creatures.
Avon executive editor Erika Tsang explains: "In paranormal romance the relationship between the couple is the focus of the main plot. In urban fantasy, the world that the couple exists in is the focus."
The article notes a number of releases upcoming include the Pamela Palmer ones which I’ve heard to be JR Ward like for werewolves. (not sure about the crackiliciousness of the books only the plot and strange naming conventions).
“In paranormal romance the relationship between the couple is the focus of the main plot. In urban fantasy, the world that the couple exists in is the focus.â€
Umm, what about urban fantasies where there is no couple? o_O Romance didn’t invent urban fantasy, ya know. [sigh]
Angie
@Angie: Had the same thought. Plus it seems things get labeled Urban fantasy that aren’t urban at all.