Guest Blogger Selah Janel stops in today!

[image error] People say there aren’t any new ideas left. I’d beg to differ, but I also think a big part of the game is about taking classic ideas or concepts and reinventing them. There are some plot arcs that aren’t going to go away: a hero’s journey, the need for revenge, and the power of love are all plot points that have stood the test of time and will continue to do so. It’s the same with a lot of creatures in legend and folklore these days. Dragons, faeries, zombies, and especially vampires aren’t going to loosen their grasp on the masses any time soon. What makes these creatures great is that they have a huge history of folklore behind them—really, at this point, you can pick and choose what attributes you want to use, and as long as you can make it make sense, it will read very well. However, there’s definitely the other end of the spectrum. By picking and choosing only what you want to convey, so often it’s easy to fall into the trap of ignoring everything else, everything that makes these creatures what they are.
Take Holly Black’s Modern Faerie Tale or Good Neighbors series, for example. She uses a lot of classic creatures: faeries, trolls, sirens, and every variation thereof. She uses them as love interests, heroes, villains, and side characters. What she doesn’t do, though, is strip them of who they are or over-categorize them. A troll actually maneuvers himself from sundry character to hero to love interest in Valiant. Faeries sell glamour as a street drug to mortals in that world, as well—a daring variation of all the charms and “helpful” items that the Folk are always offering mortals in the old stories. A faerie bride is won in the Good Neighbors series, but it isn’t part of a huge love story. Rather, the bride is often seen as manipulative and cold when compared to mortals, because she doesn’t have the same nature. Even the lead character, Rue, who is half mortal and half faerie, has to examine the crueler part of her own personality at some point, even as she’s trying to save her city from takeover by the Good Folk. You know what, though? It works. Ms. Black uses the characteristics and legends to propel conflict and plot development. She doesn’t try to cram these dubious personalities into something more user friendly just so she can write about faeries or craft a love story. What makes her stories phenomenal is that she doesn’t talk down to her readers, which is especially important for a YA audience. She expects them to be able to grasp that there are light and dark sides to everyone, and that things have consequences. Sure, you have the magic and all the trappings, but at their core, this is what makes her series work.
On the other hand, this is so often my problem with titles like Twilight. I totally understand the appeal of a vampire love story. They’re mysterious, powerful, and there’s always been a sensuality in vampire stories ever since Stoker wrote Dracula. That’s not going away, nor should it. However…to neglect key parts of the legend without taking time to really back it up, is frustrating to me. What’s the drive of a group of vampires to be going through the centuries as a young family? What would be the evolutionary reason for developing a reaction to sunlight? You can argue that the story isn’t about that, and I’d somewhat agree with you, but it translates itself as odd to me in different areas, too. Sure, Edward talks a lot about wanting Bella’s blood, but are we ever really on the fence as to if he’s a danger to her? Of course not. By not seeing him as a killer or even nearly bringing himself to shed her blood because he has to have it, it negates what he is. If he’s over a hundred, he’s had time to deal with the life change and should be comfortable with the path he’s chosen. So for her to delve up that kind of conflict in him, it would be way more fascinating for her to truly be fighting for her life…against Edward. Think of how great a love story that would be…two people drawn to each other by attraction, but also trying to come to terms with that giant fanged obstacle in the room. And honestly, I think it could be done, and done well for a YA audience. You could still have your love story, but it would be more of a gothic-slanted horror romance than what it is now. I’m not denying how successful a series it is, but does it succeed as a vampire story?No, not at all, not when everything is resolved between them by angst and discussion, and not when the very things that make Edward what he is is used more as set dressing than to propel the plot into daring conflicts and new directions. It’s a vampire-lite series, but it takes care not to delve too much into vampirism.
So what’s the answer? Here’s my thought on the matter. If you take some core part of a creature out of the mythos, or evolve it to live in the modern world, then you’d better work an explanation into the plot and you’d better have a damn good reason. You also need to make it a source of conflict or something to propel the story along. So often, I think people waste energy avoiding parts of a creature’s mythos rather than using the parts they’re afraid of using them to push things in new directions. So what if a vampire is a vicious killer…can’t he have love, too? It would be much more of a payoff if he manages to fight his core nature to give his heart what it wants. If a fairy suddenly chooses not to screw with mortals and is living in the human world, there has to be a reason, either due to the worlds lining up or their own choices. These little things could affect their character and move the whole story into different areas. If a zombie can recover, why is that? What ramifications does that have for the person afflicted with the disease? If you write a character from myth and legend but don’t use parts of the myth, is that because in that particular world that was invention and made-up folklore, or has something happened to your character to move them away from that? 
Do you have an alternate history in your head?
The point is, whether readers and writers think these things matter or not, they do. You can’t begin to change and play with things if you don’t know where a creature or classic character came from. So often when I get stuck, I go right back to folklore, because often I’ll find a solution staring me in the face. It’s important to do new things with old characters and archetypes, but it’s also important not to negate all the history that makes them what they truly are.
Blurb: Like many young men at the end of the 1800s Bill has signed on to work in a logging camp to earn a fast paycheck to start his life. Unfortunately his role model is Big John, the camp’s golden boy known for blowing his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and the lives of so many. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows, something that badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door or does someone have their own plans for his future?
Enjoy a lesson of lumberjack vocabulary here! http://selahjanel.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/the-language-of-lumber/
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Are  HTTPS://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-mooner-673945-241.HTMLSmashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/247049    Bio: Selah Janel has been blessed with a giant imagination since she was little and convinced that fairies lived in the nearby state park or vampires hid in the abandoned barns outside of town. Her appreciation for a good story was enhanced by a love of reading, the many talented storytellers that surrounded her, and a healthy curiosity for everything. A talent for warping everything she learned didn’t hurt, either. She gravitates to writing fantasy and horror, but can be convinced to pursue any genre if the idea is good enough. Often her stories feature the unknown creeping into the “real” world and she loves to find the magical in the mundane. She has four e-books with No Boundaries Press, including the upcoming novel ‘In the Red’. Her work has also been included in ‘The MacGuffin’, ‘The Realm Beyond’, ‘Stories for Children Magazine’, and the upcoming Wicked East Press anthology ‘Bedtime Stories for Girls’. She likes her music to rock, her vampires lethal, her fairies to play mind games, and her princesses to hold their own.
Catch up with Selah and all her ongoing projects at the following places: Blog – www.selahjanel.wordpress.comFandom Scene Column – www.fandomfestblog.com/blogs/selah-janelFree Read: ‘On Fire’ - http://noboundariespressstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=189Facebook – www.facebook.com/authorSJTwitter – www.twitter.com/SelahJanelGoodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5622096.Selah_JanelAmazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.com/Selah-Janel/e/B0074DKC9K/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1346815995&sr=1-2-ent