If you read the back cover blurb of my debut romance, Wild Heart, you won’t see a mention, or even indication, that Wild Heart has paranormal elements. Yet, it does. There’s not a lot of paranormal, but enough for the reader to take notice. I didn’t set out to make Wild Heart a book about people with special abilities, but once the idea popped into my mind, it wouldn’t leave.
Wild Heart is really two books in one. There is Leo, the hero, who is trying to find the people who murdered his parents while attempting to fit into a refined English culture he knows nothing about. Ella, my heroine, is there to help him learn. On the other hand, there is the paranormal twist. You see, Ella has a special ability to control and sense animals. Since Leo is more animalistic than most humans, she can often read Leo’s mind. But there are enemies who want to exploit poor Ella’s abilities.
Now, had Leo or Ella been a vampire, Wild Heart would probably be considered a paranormal instead of a historical romance. When we think of paranormal romance, we inevitably think of Vampires. Multiple polls have proven that romance readers want to read about Vampires more than any other paranormal twist. Sure, who doesn’t love a sexy vampire? But what about those more subtle paranormal romances? Romances with ghosts, witches, and characters with psychic abilities?
There are certain paranormal situations so commonly experienced that they’ve become almost a part of our culture. No, I’m not talking about Vampires. When was the last time you met someone who had come across a vampire? Probably never. But when was the last time you met a person who had had a ghostly encounter? Probably quite often.
I’m descended from a witch, you know. Yep, seriously. Sarah Pease, a distant relative, was accused of witchcraft in 1600s New England. Okay, so poor Sarah was probably just a normal woman who was caught up in the craziness of the witch trails. Fortunately Sarah wasn’t charged, as the trials died down around that time. But it does make you wonder…what if Sarah really was a witch? Perhaps she was great with herbal medicines. Perhaps she knew things before they happened. Perhaps she could communicate with nature.
I, myself, have had a few odd experiences in a house we lived in when I was a child. I’d see people, objects would float through the air, I’d hear voices. I was a child, so who knows if I was imagining these things or not. Once we moved from the house, I never had the same experiences again. The house was small, nondescript. I have no idea how old it was. Directly across the street was an old brick mansion. If anything, one would have thought the mansion would have been haunted instead of our little ranch home. Oddly enough, one day while searching the web for information on that mansion, merely out of curiosity, I found a forum about haunted places, the mansion was mentioned.
Two rumors had circulated. One was that the original owner of that mansion had helped slaves escape. The other rumor was that he had murdered all of his slaves. Polar opposites and who knows which was real, if either. Funny enough, not one person knew anyone who had an odd experience in that mansion. But one comment caught my attention. A woman said that she’d never gotten any odd vibes from the mansion, but that the house across the street had always freaked her out. That house across the street was ours, the same place where I’d experienced ghostly activity.
My childhood wasn’t the only time when I’d experienced something inexplicable. When I was in my twenties my father died. We didn’t have the closest of relationships and I hadn’t talked to him in months. I had no idea he was even sick. I was working at a Museum when out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him. I knew it wasn’t my father as he rarely traveled and lived hours away, so I didn’t bother to look. I hadn’t even thought about him in days. I went about my work and forgot about the odd sighting. Later that night I got a call. My dad had died of heart failure around the same time I’d seen him.
And what about those odd and eerie situations that happen almost every day? Have you ever experienced something that seemed too coincidental? Back to my witchy relative Sarah Pease. Just about a week ago my mom had brought up the woman. I don’t even know why we started discussing the topic. I’d remembered quite a bit about our family research, but that was one thing that had escaped my mind. Mom mentioned that Sarah was accused of being a witch. I found it interesting but didn’t think much else about it. A few days later I went to one of my favorite blogs, artist Heather at Audrey Eclectic. Imagine my surprise when there was a painting of good ole’ Sarah Pease. A woman named Alyson had commissioned Heather to do a painting of her relative, Sarah Pease. Coincidence, or more? Who knows, but certainly odd.
Now that I’ve made myself look quite certifiably insane, time for you to join me! Any stories you’d like to share? What are your beliefs in the supernatural? Leave a comment, three people will win a copy of my debut book, Wild Heart!
