Just a few years ago, paranormal romance saw resurgence in popularity, but I’ve loved writing paranormal romance forever. The very mention of paranormal sends some romance readers into shudders of dread. If they don’t enjoy horror movies, they won’t pick up a book about a vampire or werewolf as a hero, or a man and woman as reincarnated lovers. While there’s nothing wrong with disliking paranormal romance, I often prefer my reading material with heavy doses of the nebulous to keep me wondering what ghoul will jump from the shadows. Worse yet, I enjoy concocting my own little shop of horrors…romance touched by the edge of darkness.

Okay. I’m a rare bird. A woman who enjoys the evil delight of renting The Exorcist and then watching it alone. Well, I’m not the average girl next door.

Writing something that scares the reader’s pants off is my ultimate thrill. Why? Probably for the same reason any other writer must write what he or she loves. It is difficult for most writers of paranormal romance to pinpoint every facet of why they write romance with a twist. Perhaps it starts with what the writer experienced as a youth.

As a child, I loved to read Poe. My television preferences ran to Alfred Hitchcock, Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker and The Twilight Zone. Strange for a girl scared of so many things. While I appeared timid on the outside, my mind preferred a more adventurous realm. I could have the thrill without getting more than a chill, unlike the poor fools experiencing danger. Within the sphere of the paranormal is a belief that it can’t touch you if you caress it first. If you create the monster, you can control and kill the monster. If someone else writes the beast, then you’re in trouble.

Once I reached my teens, Gothic novels held my attention. From that point forward, I loved the combination of love and mystery and sometimes horror that these tales offered. Hence, my current enjoyment of Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Anne Rice.

These days I write stories that skirt the edge of gritty, nasty horror and the terrors of everyday life. I want my readers to fall in love and still be scared witless. I want pseudo reality to slither into the reader’s living room and bite them on the behind. As my audience, the reader should be gripped with a creeping sense of apprehension that gathers force until the frightful ending.

In my writing, I combat monsters. Monsters that have a form, no form, a name or no name. Most prominently they are ghosts or spirits, or an indefinable something that lurks just at the edge of the protagonist’s conscience…waiting to erupt onto the cinematic screen of my page. An awareness of danger, hiding or dormant but not dead, is enough to give anyone nightmares. If I can take that horror and attach it to the excitement, confusion, and heated sexuality of romance, then I have a story with beef. In my DEEP IS THE NIGHT vampire trilogy (Ellora’s Cave www.ellorascave.com), I made sure that vampires weren’t the only thing lurking in the night to scare the characters. I wanted a sense of dread, a fine edge of uncertainty in my fictional Colorado mountain town of Pine Forest.

In a pure horror tale, I might let the protagonist be eaten by the monster. In paranormal romance, I want the hero and heroine to battle the monsters and still come out the victors. As a bonus, they find love with each other. Ahem…the hero and heroine…not the monsters. Love that can span the centuries, defy the space time continuum, or even the final shadow of death is love going the extra mile. Think about it. A romance story without barriers isn’t very exciting. Throw in some major conflict and the hero and heroine have to resolve their problems to come together at the end. Toss in something otherworldly and they have more to fight and their love will becomes stronger.

In my Special Investigations Agency series at Ellora’s Cave (Ellora’s Cave www.ellorascave.com), the heroes and heroines battle weredemons, various odd monsters, werejaguars, and psychic threats.

In my May 31 release DANGEROUS INTENTIONS (Ellora’s Cave www.ellorascave.com) the hero and heroine battle bad guys who are not paranormal, but it is a paranormal series of events that will save them in the end. And their kick ass love, of course.

By letting myself experience the adrenaline of beating the evil, the ghost, or the monster, I have conquered. I have kicked the dragon’s butt, and I’m taking names. The icing on the cake is the love.

Therefore, if you enjoy your romance with a paranormal twist, I suggest you stop by and check out my buffet of paranormal romance at www.deniseagnew.com.

Will I continue to write paranormal when it is no longer the toast of the town? The answer is simple: I have to write it. I have no other choice. I have so many spooky stories running around in my head that if I don’t write them I will simply explode. And that’s a whole ‘nother horror story, indeed.