Help me welcome Jami Gray and her insight on Genre Bending

Genre Bending…

So did you read—Gender bending? Close but no cigar. Think of it as merging two or more genres into one unique read.

My first love for reading picks tends toward paranormal, heavy on Urban Fantasy. Give me Kelly Meding, Jennifer Estep, Seanan McGuire, Ilona Andrews or Patricia Briggs and I’m a happy camper. But, I have to admit there are other genres that fight for their place in my heart.

My second contender for reading preference-military romantic suspense. Maya Banks, Cindy Gerard, Cherry Adair, and Julie Ann Walker can come visit my Kindle Fire anytime. Oh yes, I have some hot and heavy thoughts for those Special Forces bad boys. Dangerous and delectable, those plots can keep my pulse rate up more than a treadmill.

But sometimes, when you read and write a certain genre, you like to take a break and whet your creative mind with something a little different. I hit this point recently as I finished up my third novel, Shadow’s Moon and sent it off to find a home. As much as I loved my UF and romantic suspense, I wanted something…more.

Years ago, when I first read Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalker series, I was hooked. Her ability to merge romance, military and paranormal really did it for me. Yet I had a hard time finding other stories with similar elements. So this year I headed out in to the wide world of books and searched again. I was thrilled to find some great new authors out there.

My two top contenders had merged into some captivating novels!. What happens when you mix military, romantic suspense, paranormal? You get some fantastic reads like Trish McCallan’s Forged in Fire, J.D. Tyler’s Alpha Pack novels, and Cherry Adair’s T-Flac/Psy books. I even picked up some of Rebecca York’s earlier works-Decorah Security series, but just haven’t had time to read it yet.

In the every changing book world, readers and authors alike are looking for the next unique idea. As the lines between genres began to blur, what are some combinations you, as readers, love or would love to see?

Bio:

Jami Gray grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border, and was adopted at the age of 14 to suddenly become the fifth eldest of 37 children. She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and three minors-History, English, and Theater. (Decision-making was not her forte at the time.) Shortly after marrying her techie-geek hubby (who moonlighted as her best friend in high school) she completed a Masters in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix Oregon.

Now, years later, she’s back in the Southwest where she’s outnumbered in her own home by two Star Wars obsessed boys, one Star Wars obsessed husband, and an overly-friendly, 105-pound male lab. Delving into the wild paranormal worlds where romance collides with suspense and Urban Fantasy is queen, manages to salvage her sanity. Or so we let her believe...

Blurb for Shadow’s Edge:

Everyone fears what hunts in the shadows—especially the monsters…

It takes a monster to hunt one, and for Raine McCord, forged in the maelstrom of magic and science, she’s the one for the job. In a world where the supernatural live in a shadowy existence with the mundane, a series of disappearances and deaths threatens the secrecy of her kind and indicates someone knows the monsters are alive and kicking. Partnering up with the sexy and tantalizing Gavin Durand proves to be a challenge as dangerous as the prey she hunts.

When the trail points back to the foundation which warped Raine’s magic as a child, her torturous past raises its ugly head. Gavin and Raine sift through a maze of lies, murder and betrayal to discover not only each other, but the emerging threat to them and the entire magical community.

Blurb for Shadow’s Soul:

Some nightmares are born of love…

Raine McCord has no problem taking down the monsters of the world, it’s one of the reasons she’s so good at her job. So playing bodyguard to Cheveyo, head Magi of the Northwest, as he consults with the Southwest Kyn should be an easy assignment. Unfortunately, simple task turns into a nightmare when Cheveyo is kidnapped and Raine is left for dead by one of the Kyn’s most feared beings, a Soul Stealer.

The Stealer’s attack leaves lasting wounds, undermining Raine’s confidence as a warrior and damaging her unruly magic. Her ability to heal her mind and spirit hinges on the one man who can touch her soul, Gavin Durand. Compelled to face the emotions raging between them, they must embrace not only their stormy relationship but their evolving magic to escape the twisted threads of murder and betrayal to find Cheveyo.

As Raine and Gavin come together and begin to unravel the complex web of secrets and hidden vendettas haunting the Southwest Kyn, they discover unsettling new truths that threaten their very existence.

Blurb for Wrapped in Shadows:

The magic of the holidays can be hell…

Celebrations abound during the holidays, but this Christmas an engagement celebration goes horrifically wrong. What appears to be a simple murder/suicide hides a vicious surprise. The type of gift Raine and Gavin, elite member of the Kyn, didn’t want humans to unwrap, because revealing the monsters in the shadows isn’t the way to spread holiday cheer.

Blurb for Shadow’s Moon:

Even a wild heart can be broken…

A blonde, a brunette and a monster walk into a bar and all hell breaks loose.

It should have been the start of a bad joke, but days from a full moon Xander Cade, Tracker for the Northwest Motoki Pack, finds nothing funny about confronting an enraged Shifter in a crowded Portland nightclub filled with unsuspecting humans. The resulting carnage frays an already thin veil of secrecy shielding the supernatural Kyn community from public scrutiny, and ensures she can’t escape the one man she’s been determined to avoid, her Alpha and mate, Warrick Vidis. Dominating, protective and compelling, Warrick threatens her individuality like no other.

As the Northwest Alpha wolf, compromise isn’t in Warrick Vidis’s vocabulary, but when his reluctant mate, Xander Cade, refuses to leave off the hunt for a killer, he has no qualms using whoever or whatever necessary to protect her or his pack. A series of unusual deaths involving lone wolves, along with anonymous threats against him and his Pack, begin to jeopardize his normal steely control. Add in Xander’s continual reluctance to fully accept their Soul bond, and the line between intellect and instinct begins to blur, leaving him wondering if one woman’s love and acceptance will be enough to save both man and wolf.

As the danger escalates, threatening not just their Pack but those closest to them, Warrick and Xander must find a way to trust each other and accept their rare bond or risk losing everything-their pack, their friends and each other.

Blurb for Hunted by the Past:

Sometimes death is the only way to out run the past…

A reluctant psychic who can relive the past, a man well versed in keeping secrets, and a psychopathic killer enter a deadly game where the past determines the future.

Changing the past is an impossibility ex-Marine, Cynthia “Cyn” Arden, understands all too well. Struggling in the aftermath of a botched mission, which cost her two teammates, her military career, and a fledging relationship, she’s brought home by a panicked phone call. The psychic killer behind her nightmares has escaped military custody to hunt down the remaining teammates, one by one. Next on his murderous list--Cyn. Her only chance at survival is to master the psychic ability she’s spent years denying.

The killer’s game brings her face to face with the one person guaranteed to throw her off kilter—the unsettling and distracting man she left behind, Kayden Shaw. Once she believed he’d stand by her side, until he chose his job and his secrets over her. A choice that’s left the scars of the past etched deep on her mind and heart.

To survive this twisted game, Cyn must risk trusting her heart and accepting who and what she is, or lose not only her life, but the man she loves.

Available Now:

Shadow’s Edge: Book 1 of the Kyn Kronicles

Shadow’s Soul: Book 2 of the Kyn Kronicles, Paranormal Romance Winner of 2012 Shooting Star

Wrapped in Shadows (.5) part of Things That Go Bump For The Holidays—A Collection of Short Stories

NOW AVAILABLE:

Shadow’s Moon: Book 3 of the Kyn Kronicles, 2013 Golden Claddagh Finalist

Coming in July 11^th, 2014 from Muse It Up Publishing:

Hunted by the Past: Book 1 of the PSY-IV Teams

And Fall 2014 brings Shadow’s Curse: Book 4 of the Kyn Kronicles.

You can find me at:

Black Opal Books: www.BlackOpalBooks.com