Identifying with Shifters #fur #reading #shifterromance #escape

Last week I talked about camouflage, and how there is an inner beast prowling inside some of us that we won���t let out. For various reasons, and all of them personal. And visceral. But, I���m getting sidetracked already, thinking about guts. Because that���s leading to���See? Sidetracked.

What I want to talk about this week is how when that inner beast gets poked at its damned hard to keep her passive.

So, please forgive me as I stand here as��Captain Obvious and announce: We read paranormal romance novels for the pleasure of it. What, you want to know, does reading books you love have to do with our own hidden animals?

Because��when it comes to reading the subgenre of Shifter Romance, I think we read it for the escape. From un-reality, my friends. The world most would call normal���isn���t. For those of us who don���t fit into it, the ���un-real��� world is a confining and confusing space. With waaay too many rules many of us just can���t understand. Or tolerate.

So, we escape to places that do make sense. Sure, some��call them fictional. Let them. By now, those of us who claw at the steel of our invisible cages are used to being patronized. Being accustomed to something doesn���t mean we like it, though. We���re baring our fangs, lifting our hackles. But being the awesome, adaptable creatures we are, we camouflage it.

But, man oh man! Wouldn���t it be AWESOME to really show your teeth?

Being the author of my���I���m gonna call them get-aways, I get to create scenes that let me vent. You know, like something happened with some humans, and I so, so wanted to clutch their throats in my jaws. Thrash ���em around a bit, make them see sense.

Instead of acting on my instincts, I hide my true nature, and retreat to my keyboard. Here���s a scene from my book Kenrickey to show you what I mean:

I shuffled to Hersey���s office at his request when class was over.

���God, Ken, you look like hell.���

I stared at him.

���Er,��� Hersey cleared his throat. ���Well, then.��� He rubbed his hands together like he was cold, or nervous. ���The reason I wanted to see you–���

���Stay the fuck away from my house.���

He shut up, his guilt blooming on his cheeks.

The rush of blood to his face stirred me, awakened the predator within and I crept forward, my muscles shivering tensely, aching to hurt him. I stopped when our toes nearly touched, then followed my nose toward his neck, where his fear puffed in whiffs from his quickening pulse. I leaned back to lock his eyes with mine. ���Come near my property again, I will personally cut your legs off and throw them in the river.���

���I didn���t-I wasn���t������

I arched an eyebrow at his stuttering lies.

���Ken?���

I raised my hand to point at his chest and the pussy flinched. ���Don���t ever beckon me to your office again, Mark. I���ll come when I think it���s necessary, and not before.���

I turned my back on the pathetic crumb, and left the building without waiting for his reply. ~Kenrickey: Book Three of the Luna Chronicle

See? Of course, there is a ton of pre-story to this scene. Ken is being sucked into the world of wolf shifters with some strange and fearsome side effects.��But I think��the scene��shows the gist of what I���m talking about. Sometimes, you just want to show a liiiitle of that beast inside you. Let just enough shimmer to the surface so the one you���re confronting feels your intensity.

I think of scenes like this in all my books when my hackles are up and I want to shred someone a new a**hole. Don’t you? When you find yourself in these situations, do you remember a shifter��character you���ve read about, and picture yourself in their stead? Or imagine yourself adopting their can���t-give-two-shits attitudes when it���s going to kill you to roll over one goddamned more time?

Me, too. It���s why I love to read shifter romance, and love to write it even more. When problems surface, I find myself thinking what would Kenrickey do?��

How about you? Is there a favorite character you fall back on to get you out of crappy situations?

Thanks for getting what I���m talking about. There���s nothing scholarly, or particularly rational about this post. I���m just sharing. And, hopefully, letting you know you���re not alone in there.

Enjoy your day. Shake your fur. It needs fluffing.

~S.C. Dane is a paranormal romance novelist with four books to her credit, and two in the works.