Dark Fiction
I didn't have a grand plan when I published my first dark fantasy novel over three years ago that I was going to be labeled “dark” anything.
Than I was.
I was the girl that didn't read romance books when I was a kid. I read Stephen King and Dean Koontz. When I tried to share how cool those books were with my friends they were like: huh. Guys dug them. And they also liked the science fiction books I read. Anyone remember the Dragonriders of Pern? Yeah. Did I like fantasy then? I did, but high fantasy got swampy for me with the World Build that Went On so it never became a fave.
At an early age I liked the Chronicles of Narnia (dark fantasy if there ever was), and read to all my kids when they were little. A Series of Unfortunate Events and Goosebumps were favorites they cut their metaphorical teeth on. Dark appealed. It still does. I've tried being light and it doesn't work. I can do comedic dialog but the Alice in Wonderland path always appears and I head right to the rabbit hole every time.
What is it?
Dark fiction is anything where the themes are uncomfortable, creepy, non-traditional and push the boundaries of what humanity defines as normal. I consider it a form of “soft” horror. It doesn't have to be erotic to be dark, though erotica by its very nature tends to be “heavier” than say—romance. A solid literary erotica writer is Kitty Thomas, who I've mentioned before. She doesn't feel compelled to offer an HEA in her work. Thomas doesn't have to, her work is dark literary erotica and she only has to disturb us well, make us think and feel emotions. They don't even have to be good emotions. CJ Roberts is another author that commands dark erotic fiction very well. Their books have strong themes of ownership and abuse. Now there's a distinct market, thanks in large part to that work breaking the ceiling of what “acceptable” dark fiction was.
What about non-erotic? Well yes, let's talk about dark fantasy. My real name work shares a ton of space with vamp authors who don't let their vampires get away with sissy-sucking-titty behavior. No-oh. Their vampires are animals with brains. That flat-out does it for me. For me, as a reader, it's not great unless it has the gritty edge of dark as the underpinnings of the story.
Can I write it?
If you're a rainbows and unicorn type of writer, then probably not. I'd encourage that author not to bother with the dark. But if you're drawn to those themes in the work you read, I'd say—sure, give it a shot. One cautionary note: books that are unique and disturbing are generally not mainstream fare. If you're looking to grab cash and run, dark fiction is probably not a good bet (hopefully, the goal is The Work and not cash). Go to Amazon's Top 100 and check out how romance clogs it. (I love a great romance book.) However, I like a great, dark and edgy fiction novel one hundred times more.
Write what you love, write what you know and be comfortable being niche in the dark.
"... Jason caught Julia as she wailed against his shoulder.
The sound lifted the heads of wildlife caught in the melody of her sorrow. A chorus of absolution, grief and determination buried in a song even the lowest of the creatures heard and took note of...."
(Blood #4)
Publication date: June 27th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal
Synopsis:
Julia’s sworn enemies are safely sequestered in a prison of the fey and her forever mate has been chosen. Not by blood, but by a circumstance shaped from coincidence. However, it’s not enough to save Julia and the others who came from Alaska their fate by the hand of the Alaska den, whose reacquisition has come alarmingly full-circle to capture them.
Tharell of the fey aligns with the Singers, Were and remaining vampire to take back the one Queen who could stop the interspecies wars and establish a truce of genetics that would free all the groups from extinction and conflict.
Can they rescue Julia and her allies before it’s too late? Will the Red Were’s lineage prove to be the catalyst of victory against a corrupt pack that’s grown too debauched by greed and power to be overcome?
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Excerpt:
The Washington state border loomed in the distance. Armed by Canadian Mounties. The horses pitched around nervously, causing the men on their backs to tighten their grip on the reins.
The horses were not dumb. An alert as ancient as any had tweaked their internal alarms.
Julia watched her husband and the other two females move forward. All half-wolfen. This is what the horses sensed.
In a perfect world, they'd all be on horseback, and the horses' scent would mask the Were.
But the world was not perfect. They had upwards of fifteen Were trailing them by their fragrance. Eau de Body Odor, Julia thought with a thinly concealed snort. She figured they kept getting worse as they traveled. No baths, food where they could get it—sleep a luxury. It was a combo for smelly, grumpy and beat.
Jason glanced at her and she gave a tired smile back. When Julia had been taken, she'd been wearing cute but useless tennis shoes. The kind you buy for nearly free and walk to the mailbox in.
They were in tatters. Blisters covered every place she looked. They had been especially bad at the back of her ankle and alongside her toes.
Cyn had healed her from most of it, along with the broken ribs and dislocated shoulder, but the injuries kept returning. The Were changed and suddenly there were no problems—for them. They were in their element out here in the forest. Julia was a regular person who'd just walked fifteen miles on no sleep and inadequate footware.
Jason lumbered back to her position. She looked up into his face, almost seven feet of half-Were and sighed.
“I smell your wounds,” he said and she nodded.
“Likely—they're driving me crazy.”
She laughed out loud when he put his big paws on his hips, thinking about a solution to her shredded feet.
His red downy fur and spinning green eyes regarded her. “What?” he asked and it came out as a growl instead of a word. Julia was feeling the lack of sleep and it translated into giddiness. She so didn't need that, but the more she tried to stop laughing, the worse in became.
She was now the interpreter of wolf speak.
“What? Stop the noise please,” Slash said with more than a little irritation.
“I think she's tired,” Jason restated the obvious with a grin that looked like a grimace on features that were far from human....
AUTHOR BIO
Tamara Rose Blodgett, is the NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author of A Terrible Love; written under her pen name Marata Eros. Tamara has more than thirty-five titles in multiple genres including Dark Fantasy, Dark Romance and Dark Erotica.
Tamara lives in South Dakota with her husband, children and fur kids (dogs). She is an ardent reader of many genres. Tamara enjoys interacting with her readers via Twitter, blog and newsletter as often as possible. Please stop by either one and say hi :)
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Twitter: @TRoseBlodgett
I have Blood Singers book 1 tbr and have books 2, 3 and 4 on my wishlist. I can't wait to get started.
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