by Elle J Rossi, author of The Luminary and The Soother
I’ve heard it said a million times… The first step in helping yourself is to admit you have a problem. Well, I have a confession to make. My name is Elle J Rossi and I’m a paranormal romance junkie. There. I said it. Now comes the lowering of the head, the shallow breathing, the red face…the shame.
Yeah.
Not happening.
Not only am I an addict, I’m proud of it. Picture me holding my head high with a wicked gleam in my eye. I’m red-faced, but only from the excitement of preparing myself to turn to the next page. I’ve donned my gothic garb and my lips are painted blood red. I’m leaving this world and headed for another.
Life is hard. I don’t know about you, but many days the day job sucks everything right out of me and turns me into a mindless zombie who grumbles and groans a lot. But then I open my front door and remember that another world—a world far more interesting than my own—is waiting just inside my house. I need only to open a book to be swept off my feet by a sexy vampire, or run for my life through a damp and dark forest as a pack of shifters stalks and taunts. Either scenario gets my blood pumping, and when it’s pumping, I feel alive.
Romance, in general, is basically Disney for adults. I’ll take a happily-ever-after or at least a happily-for-now tale any day over the angst and heartache many of us endure. But, for me, throwing in a paranormal element—any paranormal element—is like adding that special ingredient to an already fantastic stew. That something extra that makes people talk and wonder. Be it magic, or magical beings, witches or wizards, angels or demons, vampires or shifters, zombies or ghosts…I’m hooked. I’m sold. I’m lost. Lost in a world so very different than the one we must live in. Lost in a world where creatures and beings I secretly hope exist reside. Lost in a fantasy world full of love, betrayal, hope, grief, desire, intrigue, life and death.
This is not to say that I don’t enjoy reality. Some of the best stories come about from watching day-to-day activities. Turning something as mundane as doing the laundry into an exotic tryst or dangerous adventure. I can’t be the only one who does this. My mind is warped, this I know. But I don’t believe it’s only writers who see the fantastical in everything and everyone. I believe it’s anyone with an imagination, or at least those willing to imagine.
Being an author allows me to share my paranormal thoughts and desires with other junkies, confessed or not. Though, if you are still hiding from the world, may I suggest you introduce yourself and make that proclamation today? No need to worry. You’re surrounded by like-minded people who desperately want to talk books and characters with fellow junkies.
Feel free to stalk me on FB and Twitter. I love meeting new friends!
www.ellejrossi.com
