Thursday, December 20, 2018

Why Not More Paranormal Christmas Stories?


The other day, I was putting together my December newsletter, and decided to include recommendations for Christmas themed paranormal romances by my favorite authors. Guess what I discovered?

There aren't a ton of Christmas themed paranormal romances out there.

Not like in contemporary or historical romance. There we get an abundance. A plethora. A deluge, if you will. In those sub-genres, an author almost feels left out if he/she doesn't have a holiday romance to offer readers. Most of my favorite contemporary authors have at least one Christmas themed book. And many have multiple. Some even have a yearly offering.

But not in the paranormal space.

I'm not saying there's none. But just not nearly as many. Searching up my various fav authors in the space, I'd say the majority did not have a Christmas themed book. Either that, or it wasn't remotely obvious.

This probably shouldn't come as a shock. It's not like Christmas is associated with paranormal romance in general. We're more about Halloween as holidays go. Right? There's the argument that, in any given paranormal world, Christmas is not a holiday that would be celebrated. Another possibility is that paranormal romance doesn't sell quite as well at Christmas. Readers may be looking for more cosy contemporaries this time of year? I, for one, see a dip with things picking back up in February.

Still, are paranormal romance authors missing an opportunity here?

Ironically, I myself don't have a Christmas paranormal romance (though I do have one under my contemporary pen name). Now I'm starting to reconsider my line up for 2019. Maybe I should add one in. It'll take some thought. Lol.

So, my awesome paranormal family, I request respectfully that if you haven't already, please write a Christmas paranormal romance for next year (or, okay, 2020 at the latest). If you have one, please share in case I missed it in my hunt! Or share your own personal favs. :)

Merry Christmas and I hope everyone has a very happy new year! Here's to 2019 and all the wonderful things it could bring!

5 comments:

Diane Burton said...

Good point, Abigail. While the cover doesn't indicate, my Mission to New Earth has a Christmas theme. It started as a short story for a holiday anthology then grew like Topsy. LOL I agree that we all need to take advantage of this season. Enjoy the holidays. Wishing you much success in 2019.

Maureen said...

I agree! I started to plan a story last year, a cozy mystery, but haven't haven't finished writing it yet. You're making me itch to get back to it- and all the other shiny stories waiting to be completed. Maybe I'll have this one for next year? :) Here's my draft tagline for Merry Witchmas

Can a Witch Survive Without Halloween When it's Christmas all Year Long?

Happy Holidays Merry Christmas!
Maureen

Veronica Scott said...

Not sure exactly where you're doing the search but this past week on my New Releases post on my blog I had Demon Claws by Sable Sylvan, A Polar Bear Christmas by Emilia Hartley,Christmas Hellhound by Zoe Chant (she's issued several holiday-themed stories lately recently) and Grim Christmas by T. S. Joyce. The week before there was A Shifter Christmas Carol by Jennifer Ashley, Santa Baby by Colleen Keehne and several scifi romance holiday titles. (There have been quite a few of them in the past few weeks as well...) R. E. Butler has been working her way through Santa's reindeer with her Arctic Shifters holiday series (Comet's Fated Mate was the most recent, I think)...so they are out there! Trying to be the bearer of good news here...I realize you specified you were looking for your favorite authors but then the post kind of left the impression there were few to none out there at ALL and that's not what I see. But definitely a good niche to write in!

Jane Kindred said...

Hmm, I posted a comment, but it disappeared. (Twice!) Trying again..

Great topic! I’ve been wishing there were more holiday paranormals. Ghost stories, in particular, seem to lend themselves to the season... A Christmas Carol has both paranormal and romantic elements, if you think about it. :) I’ve been wanting to do a holiday ghost story for a while but haven’t been able to fit it in.

I do have a Yule-themed paranormal romance, though. Book 3 in my Sisters in Sin series, The Dragon’s Hunt, takes place at Yuletide, wherein the Wild Hunt comes to Sedona, Arizona, led by my 1,000-year-old Viking, Leo. :)

SorchiaD DuBois said...

Excellent idea. I've been dragging my feet on a paranormal story called Winter Solstice but will definitely get it finished by next year. Maybe we can put out an anthology to put some extra chill in next season..