Paranormal/Urban Fantasy stories are my favorite–to write and to read. There are very few stories I read that don’t have some kind of paranormal aspect to them, and I doubt very much I’ll write any that don’t deliver the same. The question is, why?

As a reader: I like escaping into a world that isn’t ordinary. The problems aren’t ordinary, so the hero/heroines aren’t either. We (Okay, I) get enough reality in, well, reality. I know what happens in the real world; I want to know what happens outside of it. I want to know what the world would be like with vampires, shifters, and demons running loose. Of course, then I want to know how to conquer those things. (Hey, it could happen–I’m making a list of how to destroy these things. )

As a writer: The same as above. Plus, I like being able to twist things around and see how they’d work from other angles, with different explanations and reasons. The worlds I write in, so far, are all modern worlds, just the…details are different. And I have to admit, writing about a character who can see the future or shapeshift or move things with her/his mind…that’s just cool.

Don’t get me wrong. I still like some stories that don’t have paranormal aspects, like Inez Kelley’s Jinxed (read more here, buy here) and JD Robb’s In Death series (I don’t consider them para), but for the most part, what I’m reading has to be paranormal/urban fantasy. Now you know why.

What about you? What genres are your favorite? Whether it’s to read or write.