Guest Kathy Ivan: Paranormal Is My Normal

My darlings, please give a warm, warm, welcome to Kathy Ivan. She is a jewel among women. (I totally messed up on her blog date and she was incredible gracious and understanding, and had no problem with me scheduling her over a month after the originally agreed upon time. Try to find that in other authors. It’s not easy.) So I hope you’ll look into her books, and definitely show her some love today!

Thanks so much for letting me spend the day with you.  I’m thrilled to be a part of your blog.

Let me be honest.  I love the paranormal worlds in romance fiction.  Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, psychics and zombies, I love ’em.  Give me a paranormal romance and I’ll devour it faster than you can blink.  It’s definitely one of my favorite genres to read.  Throw in some steamy romance and I’m a goner.

Never thought I’d write it though.

Romantic suspense—that’s what I write.  The suspense, developing the plot.  Having the heroine and the hero race against the bad guy, overcome all the obstacles thrown in their way, follow the clues, have lots of sexy times along the way, figure out the mystery, defeat the villain, profess their love and live happily ever after.

Story after story, this was my premise, my formula.  The problem—something was always missing.  I didn’t get the satisfaction, the extra oomph I’d get from reading all those paranormal romances with their otherworldly specialness.  So I decided to go for it and combine the two genres I loved, romantic suspense and paranormal.  Desperate Choices was born.  My heroine is a psychic living and working in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  Her ex-beau is a private investigator who comes asking for her help.  His godson is missing.  And the story was off and running.  It unfolded with just enough of a paranormal element added into the suspense that it was believable and the readers loved it as much as I did.

Desperate Choices became my first published book (from Carina Press) and it won the 2012 OKRWA International Digital Award for long suspense.

My latest story, Second Chances, is a paranormal romance, introducing you to the world of Destiny’s Desire lodge in the Colorado Mountains.  It’s the first in a series, reuniting soul mates destined, though they’ve be separated due to outside interference.  They’re helped to be together with a little assistance from the Fate-Keeper who runs this special place.  The first novella is available now and book two will be out in Spring 2013.

For some people normal is normal and that’s okay.  I’ve learned the hard way when it comes to my writing world, paranormal is my normal.

Bio:  An avid reader of all types of romance, Kathy writes both romantic suspense and paranormal romance.  Kathy makes her home in the heart of North Texas doing her best to deal with the Texas heat.   She’s a member of Romance Writers of American (RWA) and the Dallas Area Romance Authors (DARA).

And guess what? Ms. Ivan is also giving away one of her books! The winner can choose a digital edition of either Desperate Choices, or Second Chances. What do you have to say to that? 😀

17 thoughts on “Guest Kathy Ivan: Paranormal Is My Normal

  1. Timitra

    Hi Kathy! I’m a huge paranormal fan too…love me some vampires, werewolves, shifters, fae etc! You’ve got some intriguing sounding books, thanks for the chance to win one!

    Reply
  2. LSUReader

    I love the world-building in PNR/UF books. And as a native of southeast Louisiana, I’m absolutely intrigued by books set in our “neck of the woods,” like your Desparate Choices. Thanks for visiting.

    Reply
  3. Linda

    Romantic paranormal suspense! What an amazing combination of genres. I like both Fantasy Romance & PNR. Most times there seems to be quite a fine line between the two.

    Reply
  4. vicki batman

    I’ve read both books, too, and they are so well-written. And Kathy is an awesome person, and a PP girl. Hugs, my friend.

    Reply
  5. Kathy Ivan

    Hi Timitra

    I love writing a bit of paranormal into all my stories. The heroine in Desperate Choices is psychic which was fun and really interesting to write. Thanks for dropping by today.

    Reply
  6. Kathy Ivan

    LSUReader

    I love Louisiana, which is one of the reasons I set Desperate Choices in New Orleans. There’s just something about it that is a nature fit for the paranormal. Especially the French Quarter. I’m working on another romantic suspense (with paranormal elements) that’s also set in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Thanks for stopping by.

    Reply
  7. Kathy Ivan

    Linda

    I’ve never had a problem crossing genres while I write. Combining romantic suspense with paranormal just seemed a perfect fit for me. They work hand-in-hand so well, weaving the paranormal elements into the mystery. At least my readers tell me that it does! 🙂 Thanks for dropping by and visiting with me today.

    Reply
  8. Kathy Ivan

    bn100

    Thank you so much. I’ve been blessed with having some wonderful covers that totally evoke the setting and voice of the stories. My cover artists are the best! Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today.

    Reply
  9. Kathy Ivan

    Vicki

    You’ve been the best, supportive and encouraging when I’ve needed it the most. I’m so happy that you’ve liked both stories and hopefully you’ll be critiquing any more in the future (especially if I can ever get this latest romantic suspense finished.) 🙂

    Reply
  10. Rini K

    I am a big fan of paranormal, and what is life without some romance and suspense? 🙂 Your stories sound very interesting, thank you for the giveaway!

    Reply
  11. donnas1

    I love paranormal and romantic suspense by far my favorites to read. When they combine I cant be happier.

    Looking forward to checking out your books.

    Reply

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