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I'm honored to be hosting a guest post by Sallie Lundy-Frommer, the author of Yesterday's Daughter. I appreciate her stopping by during her January blog tour.
If you think you aren't a fan of the paranormal genre, take a moment to reconsider. A successful story is all about the characters. Keep reading to find out more...
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Embracing Characters and Storyby Sallie Lundy-Frommer
I know people who just aren’t into paranormal novels. Werewolves, vampires, fairies, demons, whatever the mythical creature, they’re not interested. When asked why they don’t care for paranormal romance novels, sometimes I get the response, “I’m just not.” or something close to it. I don’t debate their choices. Different strokes for different folks as the old adage goes. What I find interesting is for those who care to explain their reasons for not liking this genre, often their dislike is based on preconceived notions of what does or doesn’t happen in these types of books.
Stories with vampires and other mythical creatures can appeal to and capture the devotion of readers across genres because they have elements that are fundamentally relatable regardless of the setting. What makes a story relatable is the characters. Physically, they may have different forms, but emotionally they remind us of the good and bad in ourselves. hen a character, such as Sapphira in Yesterday’s Daughter, is searching for her actual and emotional identity, that’s a situation that any reader can sympathize with. It doesn’t matter that she is a vampire.
And, the pain and pressures Malachi deals with to conform and assent to what is accepted by others, that’s not a situation singular to a vampire story. We’ve all experienced peer pressure at one time or another. Whether on the playground, in the office, on a church pew or in our homes, we all know what it’s like to be pressured. Again, the situations and feelings are familiar to us even if the beings experiencing them aren’t human. The attraction to books revolving around vampires and other mythical creatures is the same as what brings readers to other genres. Stories with characters experiencing love, loss, action, betrayal and suspense.
A book may have characters that bite or that shape shift or some other paranormal power, but what keeps readers turning pages is relating to and understanding the characters, their emotions, and struggles. For example, if you’ve read the Sookie Stackhouse stories, why is Sookie so relatable to the reader? Because she’s just trying to get by, love her brother and grandma, find ways to pay bills, find happiness, live her life as best as she can with the hand that’s been dealt. We can all relate to that regardless of the mythical creatures in the stories!
So, when folks start rattling off reasons why they haven’t read or don’t like books of this type, I ask them what kind of characters and storylines do they like. Often I get responses with many of the character attributes and plots styles found in paranormal books. I suggest we have more common ground than not. Regardless of the mythical creatures used to tell a story or the settings in which the action may take place, when the emotional content galvanizes the reader along with action and adventure, it’s relatable to just about anyone.
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What do you look for in a favorite character?
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Without further ado, more information about the book and the author. Plus, take a moment to enjoy the book trailer...
 Yesterday's Daughter: An emotionally laden paranormal vampire romance novel woven with layers of betrayal, love and loss. Grace Stone, who later learns her true identity is Sapphira, is a loner who survives abuse in the foster care system after being abandoned as a child. A brilliant student, she escapes from her brutal foster parents as a teenager and creates a life for herself. But, her life is little more than existence; plagued with questions about what she really is, a family that she has never known and the never-ending need to keep her differences hidden. She is alone and lonely, believing it will always remain so until Malachi appears in her life. Malachi, a Guardian of the vampire communities, has searched for his life mate, Sapphira, for decades. He refuses to cease searching for Sapphira even though she is believed dead by all. Conflict arises over the decades between Malachi and his family because of his refusals to accept another mate. But his very soul drives him on to continue his search, knowing that he could not exist if Sapphira were not in the world, somewhere. |
About Sallie Lundy-Frommer:
As for me, I was born on a farm in the rural South to a family of migrant farm workers. At an early age,my family moved to the urban North-East. Now I live in the suburban North-East with my husband and a large assortment of plants. I hold bachelors and masters degrees in Human Resource Management and currently work in the health care industry.
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Yesterday's Daughter is available on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.
You can find out more information about the author and the book on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, and the novel's Facebook page.
