I can’t believe I forgot to mention this when Candy and I were writing about it earlier, but I have a definite theory about why paranormals are so very hot and the market is almost oversaturated, as white raven said, especially in the vampire romance department.
I think this stems from the hyper awareness we carry now of terrorism, and how, unlike in prior wars where we knew who the enemy was (Germans! Russians! Japanese! Canadians! No, wait, not Canada – sorry), we don’t know who the enemy is, and we can’t place them in one convenient location. Terrorists don’t walk up to you and say, ‘Hi! I’m a terrorist and I hate your capitalist agenda. Pull this string on my jacket, would you?” Terrorists are among us and we have no idea who or where they are, and it’s really freaking scary.
Now I could be feeling this more acutely because I live near and work in Manhattan, and it’s generally something I’m aware of, but I think it’s somewhat a national trend- and the reason paranormals are popular right now, along with monster stories and creepy crawly mysteries in general, is that it’s comforting to visit a world where the enemy is very, very easy to spot, and at the end of the story, the obvious evil is vanquished or neutralized. I think paranormals and monsters specifically are attractive as fantasy-relief for readers because supernatural evil is a sort of uber-evil – about the only thing MORE scary than wondering if any of the people on the train with you today are terrorists, and dude, it’s 70 degrees, what’s up with the heavy down jacket? Seeing fangs or claws or watching them molt into a hairy thing at the full moon is a big clue: yo. Dude is baaad news.
Being able to identify and vanquish an evil that is so powerful it’s not even human, or, better yet, to tame and accept that supremely powerful and scary creature with the Healing Power of Luuuuv ™ is enticing, and helps assuage the fears that a good number of people might carry around. Psychologically, we know we can’t return to a time where terrorism was something that happened somewhere else, but if we look at alternate universes, somehow the uber-scary isn’t so scary anymore when compared with present day life.
I haven’t thought of them as a reaction to terrorism before; I’ve always associated it with the rise of romantica. It makes sense that the paranormal and sex go hand in hand—for so long, they were so intertwined and taboo together that when the romance community brought in that erotica I just assumed it brought some of the other in with it. Or writers, looking for ways to spice up their books, threw in that additional fairy tale element as you mention.
But since increased sexual activity is a response to terrorism/war as well (I remember reading about this not long after 9/11) perhaps it just magnified an already exploding situation? Some erotic paranormals were generating a small buzz before that (Angela Knight in SECRETS, LKH just for example) Ellora’s Cave came out around 2000-1, if I remember correctly, and they had paranormal offerings from the beginning (although the balance between paranormal and their other genres was more even that it is now).
But this is interesting—I wonder if all of the Buffy/LKH/romantica/Anne Rice stuff was just propelled forward by a need for comfort and order? I think paranormals would have been a thriving subgenre anyway, but did they become so popular because this? I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.
I tend to agree that the heightened awareness of terrorism drives the popularity/appeal of more fantastic fiction (SF writers bitch and moan about the rise of Fantasy and the demise of SF all the time now) as rehearsal, catharsis, and escape. I mean, how many contemporary romances have you read that even MENTION 9/11?
Maili also made a good point about how female protagonists saving the day cycle in and out of favor in inverse relation to political currents (in mainstream fiction and films).
Now I’m going to soak my head, as I’ve used up too many big words today. *g*
I read “Blue Dahlia” by Nora Roberts, and her husband was killed in a plane crash. In September. Of 2001. Was it one of the 9/11 plane crashes? No. Was it even mentioned? No. And I still don’t know if I would have wanted it to be mentioned. If a contemporary novel is still my escape into fantasy, do I want that jarring reality?
I have to really, really think about that.
I remember reading a Blaze (the title and author escapes me at the moment—I know it was a woman who had Angelina Jolie lips and who had a plant caretaking service), and the reference was something like, “she looked across the cityline, and as always, her breath hitched when she saw what wasn’t there.” I remember it because it was the first (and still only) time I’d seen it referenced in a romance (not that I read a ton of contemporaries, but still…)
Anyway, I couldn’t decide then that I liked the acknowledgment (NY life was a big theme in the book, so *not* mentioning it might have been weird), or hated that poke of reality in my eye.
FWIW, the last (only?) romance (although this may not count) I read with a 9/11 reference was Stephanie Doyle’s CALCULATED RISK, a Silhouette Bombshell. It’d’ve been weird NOT to mention it in there, as the villain was a terrorist…producer, I guess is the best way to put it.
Scratch that, I think Suzanne Brockmann’s OTE or the one after it had something about the Navy SEALs coming back from Afghanistan. But a straight mention of 9/11, not so sure.
I guess I’m a little weird (hahaha) because I think contemporary romance can’t ignore 9/11 if dealing *at all* with terrorism or whatnot, but that may just be me, and my head being in my WIP.
And I reaaaally need to get off the internet! 🙂
Sarah, I remember being weirded out when I heard about the non-9/11 plane crash (which is entirely plausible) in the story, and thinking: um, what was the point of that, without mentioning 9/11?
Again, it’ll be different for each person, and I’m sure a lot of writers are either not ready to put it in their stories or not sure that readers want it in their leisure reading.
There was a mention of 9/11 in one of Kathryn Shay’s books, Promises to Keep. Just a quick reference to its having affected the school’s students. And this was a 2002 book. I’m not too sure about this, but aren’t there quite a few months between an author finishing a book and its publication? It sounds like Shay might have gone back and penciled it in.
As for Blue Dahlia, I didn’t really notice at the time, but now that you mention it, it is weird. She could have done something interesting with it…
I keep wondering if Nora Roberts meant to leave the reference oblique. It was a small plane crash, and it was September 2001, but maybe her point was that death rocks the world of anyway, not just those who die in terrorist attacks while the whole country is watching.
Either way, it was weird. And it took me awhile to get back into the book because of it.