Interview with Paranormal Romance Author Ariel Dawn

Who is Ariel Dawn?

Ariel Dawn grew up as an avid reader and is a creative soul.

What started out as writing reviews for indie romance authors led to featuring quirky, stereotypical, and weird covers on her Instagram Wrong Turn Romance, which gave her the courage to finally decide to live her dream and become an author.

Ariel writes plot driven paranormal romance and urban fantasy and hopes to venture into many more genres in the future. When she isn’t writing, she can be found cosplaying, attending conventions, creating all sorts of artwork in her studio, or editing photos for her photography business.

A self-professed geek and foodie, she loves hanging out with family and friends and playing video games and board games with her retro gamer husband.

Check out Ariel Dawn’s author page to follow her online!

Monster’s Spell, a paranormal witch x incubus academy romance by Ariel Dawn, is now available!

Hello, Ariel Dawn! Thanks for agreeing to this interview!

First of all, how did you start reading and writing monster romance?

I have always been a fan of paranormal romance, mostly vampires and shifters, so monsters wasn’t a far jump. I watched lots of readers in groups dish about monster romance, and the types of monsters, the spice, the fancy peens…so I dove in with Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nacosta and 12 Hunks of Herculeia by C.Rochelle, and I was HOOKED. I wrote my first monster romance after that, my Monsters of Ashwood Series. While vampires and shifters are still my favorite thing to write, I also really love writing monster romance, so a shared world like Blackthorn Academy for Supernaturals was just right up my alley.

What’s your favorite thing about monster romance?

I like writing unique monsters and researching all sorts of monster lore. Academically, I tend to get a little lost in research sometimes, like with Monster’s Spell, which pulls from celtic lore. While there are plenty of Incubus MCs, have you ever read a gancanagh?

Of course, as a writer, I tend to write what I love to read, so it’s probably no surprise I’m a fan of the monster romance staple of fancy peens as well as breeding kink. I love the beauty and the beast aspect of monster romance – monsters who are not pretty and sparkly, who are vicious and terrifying, but beneath all of that, they just want to love and be loved, or are in need of acceptance.

What are your favorite romance tropes?

Fated mates and enemies to lovers are my top tier tropes. The whole will they won’t they, the forbidden romance…I eat that up like a raccoon in a dumpster.

I also am a total simp for best friends to lovers no matter what genre it is in.

What authors/books would you recommend for readers of your work?

It depends on what you like, since I write a little bit of everything.

If you are into dark and high spice monster romance and like reverse harem, I highly recommend my Monsters of Ashwood Series. It is dark and comes with a list of trigger warnings, so I advise folks who are interested to check them out on my website at: www.ariel-dawn.com/about-4

If you are into monster romance with curvy heroines and spicy monsters, and are a fan of Harry Potter, I highly suggest Monster’s Spell.

If vampires are more your thing, my Ava Crowley, Vampire Slayer series is perfect for you. It’s very much inspired by Supernatural, Buffy, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, and Twilight and is a slow-burn vampire romance with an extensive world. It has a spinoff series as well, The Hunter Games.

If you’re a into shifter romance, Quell T. Fox and I have our Shifters of Starfall Creek Series, which is a twist on the fated mates trope in shifter romances, and it is a reverse harem romance as well.

What are you a fan of and is this reflected in your writing?

I’m a fan of a lot of things! (Thanks ADHD) and yes, most of the things I love are reflected in my writing. The best example of that, is my Ava Crowley, Vampire Slayer Series, which draws heavily on my love of Supernatural and Buffy. Many have likened Ava to Buffy, and that makes my Buffy heart happy because she was written as the perfect mix of Dean and Buffy. There’s also TONS of easter eggs and fandom references in the series, from Ava’s last name (Crowley, my favorite demon) to Cassius’s nickname, Cas (an homage to Castiel from Supernatural), and even Ava’s car (She drives a Baby, a ’69 Impala like Dean).

In The Garden, part of my Forevermore Series (which are all tied into Ava’s series, as they are prequel novels focusing on some of the immortal characters histories, like Cassius) is heavily inspired by my love of Bridgerton. There’s lots of easter eggs in there as well as nods to the show.

I’m also a huge fan of my husband’s baking, and I’m not ashamed to say multiple meals and baked goods he has made me have ended up in my books, and he’s likely the reason most of the leading men in my books have a penchant for cooking or baking.

What does your writing process look like?

Pure and utter chaos, mostly. I write multiple books at once (2-3 mostly, but sometimes 4). I have soft outlines most of the time, so I can keep some organized thought and structure, while also giving my pantster self the room to go off the rails a bit. I write mostly linearly, and when I complete my first draft, I go through and self-edit, polish and makes tweaks, then send it off to the editor, then the proofreader, then the formatter, then ARCs.

What’s your favorite type of monster and why?

If you count vampires and werewolves as monsters (and some do), then vampires and werewolves.

I’ve been a vampire girl as long as I can remember. They’re seductive, romantic, and there’s something about the whole bloodlust thing and eternity that just really does it for me. SWOON

If you don’t count vampires and werewolves as true monsters, then I have to go probably with gargoyles and shadows. (which is why I wrote them)

I grew up watching Disney’s Gargoyles, which if you’re not familiar with, you NEED to check out. Seriously, I don’t know HOW that show made it on the air in the 90’s. I used to buy the comics, because that was the only gargoyle style tales I knew of at the time. So reading romances with big, stone hotties is just a no brainer for me and scratches that itch.

I like shadows because it feels a little different than ghosts. It’s always interesting to see how different the interpretations are.

Is there a monster you haven’t yet written about but would like to in a future book?

Yes, I have plans to write a Kraken. I’m dying to write a grotesque monster with tentacles. I also really enjoyed writing cryptid Flint (a Hide-Behind) in Monsters of Ashwood, and I really want to do more cryptids. Mothman is at the top of my list.

How long did it take to write Monster’s Spell?

Longer than I expected! Typically I write a book in about a month, so whenever a book like Monster’s Spell holds me hostage, it takes a little longer. It took me about three months, and I took a break in between. I was aiming for 35k, but Bane and Violet had much more to say than I planned, and it ended up around 63k.

If you had to describe the book with only one sentence, what would that be?

Drawn together by fate, an emotionally damaged incubus and a magical heroine uncover a legendary attraction and mystery.

What are the main themes and tropes of this book?

Fated Mates is the main trope, but other tropes in this book are: Virgin FMC, bad boy MC, Chosen One, Found Family.

Can you tell us more about the characters of the book?

Violet has been a fish out of water her whole life. She doesn’t fit in in her small town in Ireland, and when she arrives at Blackthorn looking for answers about her magic, she discovers an undeniable attraction to a gancanagh, an Incubus. She forms an attachment to Bane, but being as Violet is a virgin, she isn’t sure if her attraction is to Bane is because of the power he exudes, or if it something more. She’s a curious FMC, always looking for the answer and ending up with more questions.

Bane is an emotionally damaged creature who is used to people wanting him because of WHAT he is. But all Bane wants is someone to want him for WHO he is. He wants a connection beyond sex, and after he suffers a devastating loss, he swears romance off for good. Until he meets Violet and feels an undeniable connection he can’t ignore. Like Violet, Bane is looking for answers, for acceptance.

Oh, and did I mention he has a knot?

What was the best thing about writing Monster’s Spell?

I really enjoyed flipping the switch on our leads. While at first glance you might expect Bane to pursue Violet boldy, he does the opposite, and while you might expect a virginal FMC to be flimsy, innocent, and very much a damsel in distress, Violet is the opposite. She’s innocent, sure, but she isn’t a wilting flower by any means. I also really enjoyed writing this story for some personal reasons. I have Irish heritage, so many of the details, like Violet’s last name (McCreanor), and the lore included hold a special place in my heart as an homage to my ancestors.

What can we expect from you next?

I work like a squirrel who’s just downed a Venti with a double shot of espresso, so probably a lot! This month I’m releasing the second book in my urban fantasy/sci-fi shifter romance series wih Margo Bond Collins, Shift Storm, and I’m also releasing a vampire rockstar menage romance titled Archmage, which is also part of another shared world with Amaryllis Media.

I also have my 5th book in the Speed Dating with the Denizens of the Underworld Series (another shared world series through Naughty Nights Press) coming out in November, and next year I have a lot of amazing books planned, including more books in the Ava Crowley Series, The Hunter Games Series, and of course, some new series as well!