Switching from Paranormal to Romance- Guest Post with Kelly Hashway

The first two book series I ever sold were paranormal. I love that genre. I grew up reading paranormal and horror. I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Supernatural is one of my favorite shows. So when I told my agent I had an idea for a YA contemporary romance, she was a little surprised, but she encouraged me to go with it. I knew I was in good hands because I’ve read my agent’s romance novels and they’re amazing. What better person to help me?When I sat down to draft, I knew I could write romances between characters. All my YA books have them. But I learned that when you focus on the romance instead of using it as a subplot, it’s very different. I had to become sixteen again. I had to relive my first heartbreak, my first break up, the first time I was cheated on (yes, unfortunately it happened to me more than once), and my first love. Needless to say, I shed a lot of tears at my laptop. I felt like I was bleeding emotions. It was an experience like none other. It took so much out of me to write the story from start to finish, but when I was finished, I knew it was a story I needed to tell for the sixteen-year-old still inside me.
I was hooked. I wanted to write another romance, but my agent warned me that because I had two paranormal series under contract, I’d branded myself as a paranormal author. I was a little devastated. I wanted my YA romance out there. Luckily, I have an amazing agent, and she sold my story, which was reworked into a novella series for Swoon Romance. I was ecstatic. So much so that I wrote another YA romance and I’m working on another novella, too.
Writing in two genres has been great. It keeps things fresh for me and opens up more ideas to write about. I also think writing romance is helping me write paranormal novels because emotion is a great thing to get in touch with when you’re writing in any genre.

Thank you, Kelly for your wonderful guest post, and don't forget to check out her new YA release, Love All.

Title: Love All
Publication date: January 22, 2013
Publisher: Swoon Romance

Seventeen-year-old Meg Flannigan wasn’t very lucky at love. In sophomore year, her idiotic boyfriend dumped her by making out with another girl in front of her locker. Ouch! Now a senior, and with a little more self-confidence, Meg catches the eye of not one, but two guys at school. Lucky! Both attend her tennis matches, vie for her attention, and are each gorgeous in their own way. So what’s the problem? Meg has already chosen one of them, and the one waiting in the sidelines will do anything to change her mind. She’s enjoys the attention right up until it’s her heart that’s caught in the middle, and she risks losing both. Can Meg Love All, or will choosing be her undoing?