Why do people love paranormal novels? Um, the ghosts, aliens and surprising but sweet intergalactic romances, of course! But these elements alone don't an amazing book make --- if the characters aren't realistic, then boom! All believability, all reader investment, goes out the window. Below, Brigid Kemmerer --- author of the Elemental series and THICKER THAN WATER --- shares how she adds some normality to her paranormal books, making those cool out-of-the-ordinary elements shine all the brighter.
One of my favorite superheroes is Spider-Man. You know why? He’s a real kid, with real kid problems. He’s got a curfew. Homework. He’s bullied in school. He feels awkward around girls. Despite the fact that he’s Spider-Man, he feels real. He feels like he could be your neighbor. Your best friend. The guy who tutors you after class or loans you a dollar in the lunch line.
I don’t know where you live, but I don’t feel like kajillionaire Bruce Wayne (Batman) would ever be my neighbor. Or even give me the time of day.
When I started writing STORM, the first book in the Elemental series, it wasn’t the first book I’d ever written, but it was my first attempt at YA. My earlier books were technically paranormal romance, but my critique partner and I used to joke that they were more like women’s fiction, with a dash of the supernatural. Writing real characters meant something to me. I’d never written from a teen boy’s point of view before, and I remember constantly asking my husband, “How do guys think about love?” or “What would a guy do in this situation…?” He finally got exasperated and said, “Hon, stop worrying about what all guys think, and worry about what this guy thinks.”
It sounds pretty obvious, but it was kind of groundbreaking for me. My husband was absolutely right, and I think that was a key moment for me as a writer. Trying to write a character who “thinks like a guy” would just end up with either a clichéd teenager, or a boring caricature of how a 37-year-old woman (cough: me) thinksa teen should think. I didn’t want either of those things to come out in my writing. I wanted Chris Merrick, the main character in STORM, to feel like he could be your best friend.
What I finally realized was that we all have our own unique fears and desires and motivations and needs. One guy might be a quiet romantic, while the next guy might stand outside your window with a boom box on his shoulder. (I am totally dating myself with that reference.) Once I had a character in my head, I let them own their personality. It was okay for a teenager to pick fights or blush at attention or stammer in class or get frustrated over homework. It was okay for guys to admit their feelings and it was fine for girls to run away from theirs. I gave them consequences for their actions and I never let them off easy. It’s challenging to write sometimes, but that’s part of the fun. I try to let the characters come alive in their own way.
And then, only then, do I add a dash of paranormal.
Brigid Kemmerer is the author of the YALSA-nominated Elemental series, which Kirkus Reviews calls “refreshingly human paranormal romance” and School Library Journal describes as “a new take on the supernatural genre.” The story of these four gifted teenage boys spans five novels and three e-novellas. Her latest novel, THICKER THAN WATER (Kensington, December 29, 2015), a paranormal mystery with elements of romance, subtly moves from YA to New Adult through the story of a recently orphaned boy, Thomas. Brigid lives in the Baltimore area with her husband and four sons and also works full-time as a financial adviser. Visit her at brigidkemmerer.com.
