Tuesday, February 24, 2009

GUEST AUTHORS: Tickle My Fantasy from Samhain Publishing

JK Coi: I'm very happy to introduce the authors of the Samhain Tickle My Fantasy anthology. These are four very funny books, so I had to ask these funny authors what drew them to write romantic comedy--and with a parnormal twist...

Witches Anonymous
Misty Evans

What’s it like to write paranormal comedy?

I love comedy of any kind and paranormal comedy is a real treat. Typically, I write heart-stopping CIA thrillers, so when Amy, the heroine in Witches Anonymous, showed up with a bag of Dove chocolates and a sob story about the Devil, I knew I had to take a break from spies and traitors and write her story. Her wise-cracking, Witch-Lit personality was a beauty, and besides, there isn’t much I won’t do for a Dove chocolate.

Amy’s one vice in life is lust. She lusts after dark chocolate, sinful men and designer shoes. Who could resist such a great character? Is she my alter-ego? Quite possibly. Her good heart and taste in cool shoes definitely comes from me, but her perchance for trouble…well, let’s just say, the Devil’s in the details!






The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo, & the Poltergeist Accountant
Vivi Andrews

What’s it like to write paranormal comedy?

I always squirm when I tell people I write comedy, because I just can’t think of myself as a comic. I am so not the guy standing on stage with a microphone delivering pithy one-liners. I’m the girl in the back row muttering snarky comebacks under her breath. Mouthy, sassy, smart-alecky remarks and a crippling fear of speaking in public? Yeah, that’s me. A comedian? Um… not so much.

That said, writing a paranormal comedy was so much fun it’s probably illegal in five states. (I’ll let you guess which five.) To me, the first rule of writing comedy is the same as the primary rule of writing paranormals – Anything goes.

You want nekkid ghosts and supernatural sexual frustration? You got it! You want a dweeby accountant to turn into a poltergeist and potentially rip a hole in the fabric of the universe from a mafia warehouse in Jersey? Go for it! No holds barred, baby. Check your good sense at the door. Let the ridiculous and the fantastic out to play together. Forget what’s possible. Paranormal comedy is all about bringing the impossibilities to life. That’s why I love it.



Paramatch.com
MK Mancos

What’s it like to write paranormal comedy?

I consider myself a pretty funny person. Usually my sense of humor is strongest if I’m riffing over a situation with my trademark sarcasm that pours from my soul like nitrous oxide—you know, laughing gas. Even my darkest books have had the odd bit of humor thrown in for good measure. I can’t help it. It’s just the way I roll.

However, when Samhain Publishing opened their call for submissions for paranormal romantic comedy in the Tickle My Fantasy anthology, I have to admit to a certain amount of trepidation on my part. I wondered if I could maintain a high level of humor throughout a story and not just the occasional one off when a character was feeling stressed and particularly flippant. I had the perfect scenario—a talentless witch playing matchmaker to a host of the city’s paranormal beings—and we all know the inherent hilarity of dating members of your own species. There’s got to be loads of humor when one slaps two very different paranormal beings together in a social situation.

From there the situations almost grew organically from the plot. Combine that with a healthy dose of looking at each situation at its most absurd and the comedy falls into place.



Carolina Wolf
Sela Carsen

What’s it like to write paranormal comedy?

When I started reading romance, I was all about the historicals. The first romance I wrote was a historical, in fact. A Regency that will never see the light of day. So how did I switch to paranormal romantic comedies?

Easy. I finally started writing what made me laugh.

My favorite stories are often the kind where you have ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Folks who are human through and through, no matter what kind of fur they may sprout, or whether they still have a heartbeat. People screw up. They make mistakes. They’re not perfect. And those imperfections make not only for great conflict, but for great comedy.

Mel Brooks, my personal icon of great comedy, said this, “Good comedy is never frivolous. It’s based on human experience, on human adventure, on human feelings. So it has to be profound.”

Since there’s nothing more profound that love, then love is the greatest comedy of all. Love is about exposing yourself – your flaws, your fur, your fangs – then hoping that the other person won’t laugh at you, but laugh with you.

Because what’s love without a lot of laughter?

15 comments:

Shelley Munro said...

These all sound great and I'm adding them to my list. I love comedy romances. :)
Nice covers, too!

Unknown said...

Congrats on your releases. I'm in the mood to laugh, too.

Misty Evans said...

Shelley, I love romantic comedies, too, and adding the paranormal twist into writing one is great fun. I hope you enjoy Witches Anonymous as well as the other stories. They're all good reads.

Misty
www.readMistyEvans.com

Misty Evans said...

Thanks, Maggie, for the congrats. All our stories are good mood lifters and full of laughs!

Misty
www.readMistyEvans.com

J.K. Coi said...

Thank you all for visiting today! I haven't yet read the books, although they're on my list of stories I MUST get to. So I wanted to ask -- being an anthology, what guidelines did you work under in order to weave the stories together? Are they connected, or is it just a matter of a theme of paranormal comedy?

Misty Evans said...

JK, the TMF authors won a contest that Samhain held last year, Tickle My Fantasy. The paranormal comedy is the theme, but the characters, plots and action are all different.

There are witches, poltergeists, werewolves, angels and all manner of supernatural creatures who get into some interesting predicaments. The stories stand alone but they're all great fun.

Thank you for spotlighting us today! We really appreciate the support!

Misty
www.readMistyEvans.com

Anonymous said...

I want to read these all! They sound great!

Mari Freeman said...

These all look great.

I love the mix of the paranormal with the comedic. I think they blend together naturally. You have to be able to laugh at yourself if you immortal. Life would be waayyy to long to take everything so seriously.

Good luck with the releases ladies.

~Mari

Misty Evans said...

Hi Natasha! I love your black cat. :)

I'll be blogging tomorrow at the Samhellion blog. Stop by and leave a comment and you could win a copy of Witches Anonymous!

http://thesamhellion.com/wordpress

Misty

Misty Evans said...

Mari, you're absolutely right! Even mortals like us need to lighten up and be able to laugh at ourselves and our predicaments. Life is much more gratifying when we do.

All the best!
Misty

Anonymous said...

Thanks Misty! He's my BIG baby! And yes! I will stop by!

J.K. Coi said...

Oh, and I forgot to mention how much I love these covers! All of them are awesome, but I have to admit, I love the fishnet stockings the best!

Vivi Andrews said...

I love the fishnet stockings too! I'm green with jealousy over Misty's gorgeous cover, though I love mine too. :)

~Vivi
www.viviandrews.com

Kytaira said...

Paranormal and comedy is a great mix! Congrats on the releases and on the Samhain win last year!

Sela Carsen said...

If you like these covers, wait until you see the anthology art! It's gorgeous and sexy and sassy.

Thanks for hosting us, JK! I love reading romantic comedies as much as I like writing them -- of course, reading them is a LOT easier. ;)