I’d like to welcome my friend and also my critique partner, Yuri Bellamy, to Muse Wednesday. I was thrilled to see he likes Tanya Huff’s novels almost as much as I do. And having critiqued his wips, I can see her influence on his books. So, let’s see how Ms. Huff’s books inspired Yuri to write.
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Thank you for having me as your guest today, Monette. I’ve had several muses over the years, including multiple LSB authors, but the one I am most excited to talk about is paranormal author Tanya Huff.
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I first read Tanya Huff’s Blood series in paperback as a teenager and was immediately enchanted by her unique combination of mystery, paranormal, and romantic elements. Her Blood series involved an unconventional love triangle between a female cop, her partner, and a vampire named Henry Fitzroy, the bastard son of Henry the VIII, and I loved every minute of it. Her vampires were unapologetically into dining on blood (no vegetarian vamps here!), her supernatural villains were nasty, and her humor was smartly witty and top-notch. However, while her sexual tension was excellent, the love triangle between Henry, the heroine, and the male cop was not the focus of the story. It was merely a “side bene,” and by the time I finished the series I realized I wanted the romance to end on a, well, far more romance-y note than it did (all of Tanya Huff’s books are fabulous, BTW, but she does not write romance).
At the same time, I had already started writing my own stories, and I now believe my passion for writing paranormal romances with multiple partners formed while I was reading Tanya’s novels and those of other paranormal authors who incorporated love triangles in their writing. However, I quickly realized that writing love triangles that stayed love triangles was not for me. I didn’t know it at the time, but what I was writing was more akin to what I now know as polyamorous, or ménage, paranormal romance – and ménage romances are still a favorite of mine to this day, both for writing and reading.
So that’s my story of my love affair with Huff. She is a master of her unique combination of genres, and I consider her a big influence on not only my passion for writing about relationships with multiple, often paranormal, partners, but also my choice of subject matter. Like her, I have made it my mission to create very distinctive worlds which include all kinds of supernatural beings and themes: angels, demons, shapeshifters, and hell (although unlike her I have never written about a portal to hell in a basement!). And like her, I have a soft spot for situational irony and idiosyncratic characters in my stories. Case in point: where else are you going to find a hero as tortured, wickedly fun, and intense as my demon lord Misery (who will appear in my upcoming novel Misery Loves Company)?
When his past, present, and future literally collide, demon lord Misery Illich must venture through a truly hellish series of trials while keeping two unexpected companions out of harm’s way. But when he starts to fall in love with one of these terribly fragile, tempting humans, he will face the great challenge of all: Protecting his heart.
I am currently running a free promotional, bi-weekly serial which I co-write with Nulli Para Ora, which stars the character of Misery.
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Bio:
A lover of all things paranormal, romance editor and writer Yuri Bellamy has always loved books involving dark fantasy themes and paranormal men (preferably multiple!). He primarily writes heterosexual and ménage romances at this time, but expects to release gay romances in the future. His upcoming paranormal romantic suspense, Misery Loves Company, will most likely be available in early 2014.
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To follow all the latest news on Yuri, please visit his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/authoryuribellamy
And feel free to follow his official Twitter page, where he occasionally hosts chats with characters from his works and shares all kinds of romance publisher and author-related news:
https://twitter.com/Yuri_Bellamy
