An Interview with Author JR Ward

So we're talking 22 years ago.

And a lot, I mean, a lot has changed in the publishing industry, but at the same time, we seem to have not revisited, but we have reawakened that whole dark fantasy thing.

I mean, if you look at the books behind me, the vast majority of them are fantasy or dark fantasy of some form.

Yes.

Yes.

Apart from these ones here.

Yeah.

Well, you know, and I think that when it comes to dark fantasy, and I feel like the Black Dagger Brotherhood books can kind of slot into a romantic-y paradigm too.

Just because the world building and all the things.

And that's not a pat on my back.

That's just how to define the work itself.

But, you know, I think that what makes a good book is conflict.

and conflict resolution you don't expect and really super high stakes.

And I think dark romancy and dark fantasy and dark vampire books work because you've got those spiking highs and lows.

And so if you're taking a reader on a journey, the darker it gets down here, the higher it gets up here when everything works out well.

And it's that contrast of where the reader goes during the course of the book that makes for that gripping reading experience that we all want.

That we all want to be swept away, swept off our feet.

We want to be in danger while being safe as we read.

And we want to be rescued and be the rescuer during the course of the story.

And I just think that romancy and fantasy just leads itself to that in ways that like modern life, it's not as vivid sometimes.

Sometimes.

It's a nice escape from modern life, to be fair.

True.

I mean, I read so much because it is an escape from... my nine to five.

It is an escape from the bills coming in and all those things that you just think, I really don't want to worry about those right now.