Bianca's World of Paladins and Vigil-ebrities: A different take on paranormal fantasy heroes

The girl stood for a moment, listening to glass pieces fall and crackle from the frame as if gravity were an afterthought. She tugged her bunched purple brassiere out of the jacket’s pocket and demurely slipped one arm out of the bolero jacket then the other to put on her bra. The crowd gasped and pointed as Cobb the gang leader shakily got to his feet just beyond the shattered window. The fear in his wide eyes told everyone he would rabbit in a second.

The girl sighed and started running towards the window like a high jumper. Going after him.

A few people went to the window to watch her disappear into the darkness.
“What the hell is she?” asked the drama critic.
Standing near him, the magazine photographer watched the girl run. “I think that’s what Audrey Hepburn would be if she turned into a vampire.”

No, not a vampire. Far from it. Something else entirely.


Like the lady said. Definitely not a vampire. And here’s hoping she gathers her own following despite a glut of novels and urban fantasy that’s been offering -- in yours truly’s humble opinion -- the same ol’, same ol’ of werewolves, vamps, the usual zzzzzzzzzzzzz. At the Ad Astra SF Convention, where folks got to see the novel for the first time, a couple of people nodded when I explained Bianca is a succubus, instantly saying, “Oh, like Lost Girl.”

Sigh. Groan... No, not like Lost Girl. Not at all like Lost Girl. And with all due respect to any fans of the Canadian TV show out there, Bianca: The Silver Age not only offers a unique take on the succubus, but her adventures take place in a world populated by other superpowered beings in a distinctive far future.

Why am I telling you this? Well, besides the usual (cough, cough) shameless self-promotion, I was playing email tag last night with a very nice fan from Australia (if I can call this person that; let's say she admitted to liking one of my novels). And we got to talking about genres and categories. She remarked rather sweetly during our discussion how she thought maybe she was “trying to slot [my] books into a category when maybe that isn't what you want to do....” For her, one book was categorized as “an m/m romance when it could equally be romantic suspense or a police procedural mystery.”

Yep, it could. And no problem. No objections from me at all. Frankly, I’ve never had an issue with genres and categories as far as readers are concerned. It’s only publishers who get gun-shy over the slots, to some degree with good reason. But to my grateful surprise, most readers I communicate with are quite delighted when a novel of mine exceeds expectations by pushing out of its genre formula and going to interesting places. The only drag is when people anticipate and make comparisons. “Oh! You mean it’s like such-and-such.” Well, um, no, it’s not. If it was, that wouldn’t be very interesting, would it?

And so we come back to Bianca: The Silver Age. I thought I’d tell you a little of what it is and what it isn’t in this blog.

So yep, Bianca’s a succubus. Not a vampire, not a werewolf, not a zombie, not one of those new sleepwalking chiropractor Druids of paranormal fantasy who bond with angst-ridden teenage girls through Glee songs. (What? You missed how that’s “trending”? :-) Oh, well).

She’s bisexual. She’s faster, stronger, more graceful than any human. She goes out to bust criminal heads at night for kicks, but soon finds she has a better reason to do so when a murder conspiracy over a new kind of addictive “gel” offers a clue to her unique biology.

Bianca loves and fights in a far-future world recovering from economic collapse. It’s a world that’s “lurched back to the ancient sounds. Bicycle bells ringing in the blown-generator darkness of cracked, cratered streets...” A place where “class mattered again, and no one could pretend anymore that it didn’t. Suits of Power. Middle Class Gypsy. Queer for Bridges, a.k.a. QFR or Bridge Troll, the lowest of the low, the shuffling almost-dead, complete with cardboard signs in kanji, Farsi, quality print-out Times Roman: PLEASE. Please offer change. Please do something. Please make this quick. Please kill me.”

And most importantly, it’s also a world of “Paladins” and “Vigil-ebrities.” My own version of superheroes (especially when DC and Marvel like to flex their muscles, claiming they’re the only ones who can use the term, “superhero,” which is debatable).

“Oh!” you might say, “so it’s like—”

Nope. :-) Stop right there. No capes, hopefully no cliches. Sure, there are certain archetypes of hero that have been around since the 1930s, and the title of the Silver Age is, of course, an obvious tip of the hat to a fondly remembered era in comics. But think of heroes working in a paranormal fantasy sense. No Spandex, but lots of freakiness. I like to think Bianca’s backup cast is pretty unique, especially when they function in a world of alchemy.

There’s Clerfayt, an alchemist detective who’s the scourge of the underworld in Paris and who has all kinds of tricks literally up his sleeve... in vials. Thelonius Minh is a psychiatrist to Hollywood stars who’s hunted down psychopaths with his peculiar “combat yoga.” He has a rather peculiar way of looking at things. Orson Hawkwood has built his Defenders Without Borders into a genuine charity “brand” for Vigil-ebrity justice. Such a political animal, Orson. He believe in good being done, but also that good has to be seen to be done. And Plague Man...

Well, Plague Man is terrifying, and you’ll have to discover him for yourself.

Oh, and Bianca’s not the only kick-ass chick to mix it up.

There’s plenty of action and romance, even a couple of themes related to current international politics. So in the end, what category does the novel fit into, or the whole series, for that matter? I’m not sure. Urban fantasy? Paranormal romance? Superhero fiction? You decide.

I’m hoping readers will become fans, and fans will take an active part in giving feedback on which direction the Silver Age series should go. At least three Bianca novels are planned, and I’m wondering if those who like this world of Paladins would like to see a different novel featuring Clerfayt, Hawkwood or one of the other heroes. Hopefully, you’ll let me know. The next book in the series, Bianca: Mask of Anarchy, is tentatively scheduled to come out in the Autumn.

Oh, and um, coupons are still good to pick up Bianca: The Silver Age cheap on Smashwords until the expiry date, plus Goodreads has a longer excerpt online. :-) But you’ll be a real superhero if you buy direct from Gallivant Books.