Love Bytes says welcome to author Elizabeth Coldwell who is joining us today to talk about new release “The Leprechaun Next Door”.

Welcom Elizabeth 🙂

Writing Urban Fantasy

If there’s one genre I really enjoy writing, it’s urban fantasy. Until I started thinking about it for this blog post, I hadn’t realized how many of my books and short stories fall into the category. Of course, there’s some overlap with paranormal romance, but one definition of urban fantasy is that the story still works once the romance element has been removed, and with The Leprechaun Next Door, that’s definitely the case. Boy meets leprechaun, leprechaun gives boy three wishes, boy’s life is turned upside down because his wishes have consequences… When, somewhere along the line, boy falls in love with leprechaun, it raises the stakes, but the basic premise isn’t a million miles from The Monkey’s Paw, and that’s as far from romance as fiction gets.

So what’s the appeal of urban fantasy? As a city dweller, I just love the idea of another world existing alongside our own, but as busy commuters and people with too many other things to worry about, we simply never notice it. It’s like the piece of Banksy graffiti I walked past a hundred times on my way to a supermarket near my last office, and never saw until the day I happened to glance down at the right moment. Of course, after then I looked out for it every time. But that’s the beauty of living in London. (Other big cities apply equally.) Lift your eyes from your smartphone, slow your walking pace, and you just might spot a little piece of history that’s been there all the time. Now swap the graffiti, the old shop sign or the piece of sculpture for a vampire, a fairy or a gargoyle, and you have the beginnings of an urban fantasy plot. A whole MM romance series I wrote for another publisher had its beginnings in a weird plaque celebrating a brewery that once stood on a canal in Amsterdam. Half-man, half-lion, it plunged me into a world of lion shifters, intrigue, murder and all the good stuff.

With The Leprechaun Next Door, the title came first and the situation followed. What if you moved into a new apartment and your neighbor wasn’t entirely human? (I’m tempted to say that people who’ve rented rooms via Craigslist may be nodding in recognition at this point.) Would you be the person to whom this paranormal being chooses to reveal themselves, and if you were, how would you react? When The Leprechaun Next Door begins, Devon the main character is in a low place. He’s lost his job, he’s discovered his boyfriend has been cheating on him, and now he’s living in an unfamiliar part of town. So when he sees a friendly face, he’s more than happy to spend time with the red-haired stranger who turns out to have a very peculiar secret. Is Johnny joking about his ability to make all Devon’s dreams come true? When Devon begins to trust that he’s serious, he opens himself up to the possibility of better times and maybe even the happy ever after he’s been hoping to find.

Part of the fun of writing the book was working all the myths associated with leprechauns into the modern world. Johnny claims to have a pot of gold hiding at the end of a rainbow, but where would you hide that gold in an urban setting? I won’t spoil the surprise, but I like to think it’s a plausible solution. Gentrification may be a problem in some places, with the suggestion that it’s driving people out of areas where they can no longer afford to live and work. But in the places property developers haven’t yet reached, there are still abandoned buildings and shuttered shops. An air of danger and decay is another large part of what makes urban fantasy work – after all, however cultured and enticing a vampire may be, he still wants to drain your blood, and even the friendliest leprechaun will cause you harm if you steal his gold – and in these rundown areas the fantasy is still able to thrive.

So next time you’re walking through an area you think you know really well, stop for a moment and look around you. You never know what you might spot. And if you’re going to tell me something as bizarre as a genuine Irish leprechaun couldn’t really be plying his trade behind your local bar, well, that’s what Devon thinks until Johnny proves him wrong…

The Leprechaun Next Door by Elizabeth Coldwell

Blurb: Happiness might be waiting at the end of the rainbow, but will it come with a price?

Devon’s down on his luck—he’s lost his job and discovered his boyfriend is cheating on him. His neighbor, Johnny, is not only cute, he also has a big secret: he’s a leprechaun with a pot of gold… and the ability to grant wishes.

Can Devon wish his way out of the hole he’s found himself in? He’d like a new job, some revenge on his lying ex, and maybe even love. Johnny can give him what he wants, but it won’t come for free… or in the ways Devon expects. Can he trust a sexy leprechaun to help him make a new start and wish himself into the arms of the man of his dreams?

Buy links:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon US

Amazon UK

I am Rotherham’s foremost (okay, only) writer of quality erotica and erotic romance. Though I’m now based in London, family and football take me back North on a regular basis. Indeed, if you’re ever at a Rotherham United match (I know, what are the chances?) and you spot a small blonde with a large ‘London Millers’ flag, that’ll be me. Originally from South Yorkshire, Elizabeth Coldwell has been making up stories for as long as she can remember, only now she gets to people them with hot men. When she’s not got her nose in a book, she’s reviewing or trying to stop one or both of her cats from walking over her keyboard. She spends her time following her home town football team and baking the best brownies in East London.

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