All Hallow's Eve Guest Post & Giveaway: Why Urban Fantasy by Lilith Saintcrow [NOW CLOSED]

It's hard to say why I started writing urban fantasy. I'm an urban creature—you won't ever find me camping unless forced to. (For one thing, I love indoor plumbing too much.) I guess as far as that goes, it's a case of writing what you know.

There is wonder and terror in the city. It is a wilderness all its own.

Witches, werewolves, shapeshifters…these are all metaphors that hold a great deal of resonance. I've met people who feed on other people, people who show different faces at different times, women of great power. The metaphors survive because they are, on some level true. I've always found them to be deep and resonant, and lots of fun to play with. There seems to be a real hunger now for them.

I think that hunger springs partly from the fact that we're always searching for ways to explain the world to ourselves. Supernatural fiction, like science fiction, has always been a way to examine some very basic human questions. Because these things are "unreal" or "speculative," they're not as dangerous or frightening as their real-world counterparts. Inside the world of a book, they have well-defined powers and limitations, as well as a beginning, middle, and end. This makes them safe to explore and identify with. Sometimes you can try on a supernatural creature and find out more about what makes you human. Sometimes the fantasy element is a refuge from the real world as well.

There's also the lure of scary stuff. Human beings love to scare themselves. The horror industry and Halloween are proof. Making these scary things into stories where they are contained and controlled, where you can get the jolt of fear without really being in peril, puts the reader in control. That feeling of being in control is valuable, especially in a modern world where people feel so much is out of their control.

It felt incredibly natural for me to start writing in this vein. These were the books I wanted to read, with magic, suspense, sometimes romance, ambiguous moral and ethical decisions, and plenty of excitement.

The excitement is key. I love action movies, and writing action into the books just felt very natural to me. I very much view my fight scenes as a healthy way to get rid of stress and aggression, both for me and the reader. They're a way to get that adrenaline rush without hurting anyone or yourself. There are, of course, people who take it to a dark place or use it inappropriately. But those are the same people who will take anything to a dark place or use it inappropriately, it's not the fault of the books.

I am also fascinated by extreme conditions and how someone functions under those conditions. Exploring how someone begins to break down, or how someone copes in the middle of awful situations is just fascinating to me. It's been a way for me to explore some of the parts of my own past, especially the more painful ones.

In short, I write urban fantasy for a variety of reasons, even though I didn't know what I was writing had such a label. I was kind of amazed to find out there was a publishing term for it. I thought I was just branching out from paranormal romance, which is popular right now for some of the same reasons urban fantasy is. I didn't think I was a trailblazer, but I wasn't aware of a lot of the other authors out there doing the same thing. I'm glad there are--these are books I love to write, and I love to think of them really coming into their own.

Website: www.lilithsaintcrow.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lilithsaintcrow

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/131208.Lilith_Saintcrow

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Okay, on to the CONTEST!

Thanks to Lilith, you have the chance to win a SIGNED copy of Nightshift and a SIGNED copy of Strange Angels. All you have to do to win this amazing prize is:

• Follow this blog

• Follow me on Twitter (use link on sidebar)

• Leave a comment with an email address so I can contact you.

Open to US residents only. Contest ends 31st Oct. Winners will be announced 1st Nov.

GOOD LUCK!