Magic Thursday: What do the DarkSiders write?

by Eleni Konstantine


We state on our website that the DarkSiders are writers mostly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Let's break this down.


What is speculative fiction?

According to Wikipedia, "Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre encompassing narrative fiction with supernatural or futuristic elements. This includes the genres science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, science fantasy, horror and supernatural fiction, as well as their combinations."


That's a pretty good and broad definition.

You can see the attraction of the genre when it includes everything from myth and magic, space travel, discovery of new planets/worlds, ghosts, monsters, zombies, dragons, wizards/witches, scientific discoveries, 'Evil', survival, disasters, and even different societal structures, some to the extreme.

What is romance?

Again, according to Wikipedia "The romance novel or romantic novel...place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." There are many sub-genres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical romance, paranormal fiction, and science fiction."


You can see the attraction of being able to have a satisfyingly happy ending to a journey filled with conflict for two characters who are deeply in love.



The DarkSiders

Since we are a group affiliated with the Romance Writers of Australia, most of us also have romance or romantic elements in our work which usually contains speculative fiction.

The combination of speculative fiction and romance is a strong one and can attract a variety of readers.

You can see our members categorised by genre on our website. Of course some of these overlap, which is part of the joy of writing genre fiction, but also it made it difficult for publishers and book sellers to know exactly where to place these stories. With the rise of e-books and digital publishing, multiple 'shelving' with categories and keywords has allowed these cross genres to find a home easier.


Let's check out all the sub-genres in the speculative fiction umbrella we DarkSiders write...

• Dark Fantasy

• Dark Urban Fantasy
• Dystopian Erotica
• Epic Fantasy
• Erotic Paranormal Romance
• Fantasy
• Fantasy Romance
• Flash Fiction
• Futuristic
• Futuristic Romance
• Gay Fiction
• Historical with Spec Fiction Elements

• Horror
• Humour
• Male/Male Romance
• Middle Grade
• Mythological Romance
• NA - New Adult
• Paranormal 
• Paranormal Adventure
• Paranormal Romance
• Post Apocalyptic
• Romantic Erotica
• Romantic Fantasy
• Sci Fi
• SFR - Sci Fi Romance
• Short Stories
• Space Opera
• Speculative Fiction 
• Speculative Fiction Romance
• Steampunk
• Supernatural
• Sword and Sorcery
• Time Travel
• Urban Fantasy
• YA - Young Adult

That definitely is a broad range as is our non-speculative fiction areas.

Non Speculative Fiction

• Children's Stories
• Contemporary Erotica
• Contemporary Romance
• Contemporary Romantic Suspense
• Contemporary Suspense
• Erotic Romance
• Inspirational 
• Junior Fiction
• Mystery
• NA - New Adult
• Poetry
• Romance
• Romantic Suspense 
• Rural Romance
• Non-fiction

While we concentrate on the speculative fiction side on the DSDU, we want to also celebrate the non-spec fic that our authors also write, so hence why you see us talking about this as well.


If you enjoy reading any of the above genres, you've come to the right place!


~Eleni

All images courtesy of Pixabay.

DarkSider News - we're back!

Hello there DarkSide friends, welcome to the very first DarkSider News.

We have had a quiet year in 2017 on the blog, website, Twitter and Facebook.

There had been discussion of whether we would continue in our previous form for a number of reasons. The short answer is not exactly. Find out how after some news from our DarkSiders.

NEW RELEASES

Silver Reaper by Shelley Russell Nolan was released 1st October!
This is book three in The Reaper Series.

How far would you go to save those marked for Death?

When the call to reap uncovers a new threat to Easton and its inhabitants, Tyler is drawn back into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Forced to face her greatest fears, she seeks to uncover the identity of the rogue reaper murdering men employed by her former ally. But the search leads her to a conspiracy decades in the making.

With the line between friends and enemies blurring, Tyler begins to question her loyalties as she fights to stop the storm threatening to engulf Easton. But when the Grim Reaper offers the last hope, death might be the least of her problems.

Who can Tyler trust when even her allies want her dead?

You can buy it on Amazon US and Amazon Aus.

 

PRE-ORDERS 

The Black Tide by Keri Arthur is now available for pre-order over at iTunes and Amazon for our North American friends.

This is the third and final book in The Outcast Trilogy.

New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur brings her Outcast series to a breathtaking conclusion as Déchet supersoldier Tiger races against time to save humanity from darkness and total annihilation….

Though Winter Halo–the pharmaceutical company behind the evil experimentation on both children and adults–has been destroyed, the danger is far from over. Not only do seven children remain unaccounted for, but some of the vampires are now able to walk in light.

The key to stopping the unthinkable lies in finding Ciara Dream, the last member of the trio behind the plot to give full light immunity to both the vampires and the Others. But Ciara, like Tiger herself, is a shapeshifter, able to take on any human form she desires.

To find her, Tiger will need to use every skill in her formidable arsenal, and even that might not be enough to save the city and the people she has started to care about.

Because the vampires are coming, and this time, the lights won’t stop them.

You can pre-order at:

iTunes US | iTunes CA | Amazon US | Amazon CA

COVER LOVE

Hell's Bell by Keri Arthur has got an amazing cover!  

It's book 2 of the Lizzie Grace series and due for release February 2018.

NEW DARKSIDER

Welcome Juanita Kees to the DSDU!

Juanita writes Romantic Suspense, Rural Romance and Paranormal/ Fantasy Romance.


Check out her bio page over on our website.

Her latest release is a rural romance called Secrets at Wongan Creek.

It is book two of the Wongan Creek series.


Still waters run deep in Wongan Creek…

When spray drift ruins his crop and throws his ability to hold on to the family farm in question, Harley Baker wants to confront his neighbour and shout his rage and worry to the sky. But arguments are tricky when the woman whose herbicides killed his crop is also the woman he’s loved his whole life.

Tameka Chalmers knows that her father’s farming methods are outdated, inefficient, and even dangerous, so when Harley charges her with the loss of his livelihood, she can only accept the blame. There’s so much she would like to do differently, but her father’s rule is absolute and if she wants to keep working the farm she loves, she must do as she’s told.

But the simple action of speaking with Harley, the man she wants but can never have, starts an unexpected chain reaction of events that throw everything she’s ever known into question: her past, her family, her life. Dark secrets come to light and when Tameka is injured in a house fire, she and Harley have one small chance to seize a lifetime of happiness, if only they are able to rise from the ashes and claim it.

You can find the buy links here.

PREVIOUS 2017 RELEASES

Since we missed out on some of our releases during the year, we'll feature some every month.


The Lady and the Pirate by Bernadette Rowley is the third book in the Wildecoast Saga and was released in February.

Lady Esta Aranati, burdened by an impoverished estate, has turned her hand to smuggling. She leads a double life, a mask and wig the only shields that protect her reputation. Swashbuckling pirate Samael Delacost craves her cargo and her heart. But before he can be worthy of her love, he must exorcize the ghosts of his past. An irresistible connection binds them but will that be enough to convince Samael to turn his back on the sea, or for Esta to take a chance on happiness she doesn’t think she deserves? 

The Lady and the Pirate continues The Wildecoast Saga, with popular The Lord and the Mermaid characters Nikolas Cosara and his wife Merielle featured in this latest instalment from Bernadette Rowley.

You can get a copy at Amazon US and Amazon Aus.

Blood Kissed by Keri Arthur  was released in May.  It's book 1 of the Lizzie Grace series.

In a world where magic and science sit side by side, and powerful witches are considered necessary aides for all governments, Lizzie Grace is something of an outlier. Though born into one the most powerful blue blood witch families, she wants nothing to do with either her past or her magic.

But when she and Belle, her human familiar and best friend, open a small cafe in the Faelan werewolf reservation, she quickly finds herself enmeshed in the hunt for a vampire intent on wreaking bloody havoc. It’s a hunt that soon becomes personal, and one that is going to take all her skills to survive–that’s if the werewolves, who hate all things witch, don’t get her first.

You can find buy links on Keri's website. 

Finding Paradise by Juanita Kees was released in March. It is book one of The Gods of Oakleigh.

From the shores of Mykonos to Melbourne Australia, Arian and Ajax find that sometimes in life or death true love is worth fighting for. 

Arian Kendrick has always felt she doesn’t quite fit in. On holiday in Mykonos she rescues a little girl from drowning and discovers powers she didn’t know she had. As her long-dormant mystical talents blossom, so does her heart when she meets Ajax, the handsome, mysterious Greek-Melbournian who swears he is destined to be in her life. 

After falling on his sword after the Battle of Troy, Ajax the Great is banished to Van Diemen’s Land where he must search for a way to redeem his soul. Two thousand years later, he is given a second chance when Zeus orders him to Mykonos to search out and protect the future Queen of the Faeries, Arianrhod. The last thing he expects is to fall in love. 

But every romantic island holiday must come to an end, and the mysteries and fairytales of Mykonos fade into the suburban reality of Melbourne where Arian begins to doubt Greek lore and the magic in her veins. 

Can Arian embrace her mythical legacy in time to save her people as Hades threatens to destroy Paradise forever, and will Ajax rise to fight by her side, or is he destined to fall on his sword for eternity? 

The quiet suburb of Oakleigh may never be the same again. Not as long as the gods are in town...

You can buy it on Amazon US and Amazon Aus.

Now we continue with our DSDU news...

Website

The website will continue to host our DarkSider bio pages.  However they will be have a different look as we'll be using widgets from Goodreads for the covers. This cuts down on volunteer time and also gives us another avenue where we'll be located (more on this later).

We'll be slowly working on updating all our DarkSiders' pages in the coming months and we apologise for any inconvenience.

Updated pages include Keri Arthur, Juanita Kees, Bernadette Rowley, and Emmeline Lock.


From 2017 onwards, our covers page will use a widget also.

Blog

This blog has also been updated in relation to columns.

DarkSider News (formerly Good News) will be on the 1st Monday/Tuesday of the month. This will feature good news from our DarkSiders as well as any news regarding us in general. This will be run by Eleni Konstantine.


Magic Thursdays  will be on the 2nd Thursday of the month.  This is a column that covers promo, giveaways, articles on any aspect of writing, speculative fiction, feature an excerpt (formerly featured in a A Bite of.. column), or other interesting topics (eg mythology). This is run by Janni Nell.


Darklight On will be on the 4th Saturday of the month. This combines the three columns, Darklight On, Enchanted Orb, and What We Are Reading. It is a focus on the author. This is run by Shelley Russell Nolan.

Twitter

We'll have more of a presence again on Twitter concentrating on announcements to begin with.  It will be run by Juanita Kees who has joined the DSDU team. 

Facebook
We'll have more of a presence again on our Facebook page and like Twitter concentrating on announcements to begin with.  It will be run by Efthalia who has joined the DSDU team. 

Goodreads

We've created a Goodreads presence where we will be setting up shelves with DarkSider books.  This will be run by Eleni Konstantine. 

Thanks to our volunteers we're re-energised and we are back! 

Congratulations to all our DarkSiders with good news.