In my mission to better understand & hopefully tackle the Urban Fantasy genre, I present you with wise words from fantastic authoress Jeannie Holmes,
“Urban fantasy is often defined as having supernatural/paranormal elements layered over our recognizable modern or near-future world. The setting is a large city such as Los Angeles, New Orleans, or St. Louis. Often the main character is female and the story is told in first person point of view. The story can have elements pulled from other genres such as science fiction, mystery, horror, and romance and woven together in a cohesive manner with varying degrees of emphasis placed on each of these genre elements. Primarily, the plot will consist of a mystery to be solved or a problem to be corrected before some great calamity strikes. Romance, if present, is usually a secondary plot. Character and story arcs often carry for multiple books. These are “The Rules” of urban fantasy.”
My response? All these traits certainly seem to have a pattern in this sub-genre. And I’ll certainly be keeping them in mind as I work on my new series. If you want to know more about Jeannie and her expertise, visit the links above.
Jennifer Silverwood 