What Did You Call Me?

I am--according to my publisher, the quotes on my book covers, and the people who review my books--a "paranormal romantic suspense" writer. This is news to me. I see these words, and I want to ask, "Are you sure? I'm Christine Warren. Are you really talking about me when you say that?" Only the question kind of makes me sound like a lunatic, so I refrain from asking it out loud and blog about it instead.

In my own mind, I consider myself a writer. If asked for clarification, I'll call myself a romance writer; and if someone gets really annoyingly nit-picky about it, I might admit to writing mainly paranormal romance. But paranormal romantic suspense? I didn't even know that was a genre.

Seriously, is it a genre?

Writing it was never my intent, if we go with the assumption that it's an accurate description of my work, and I still don't see it. Not even in the books with the quotes about it right on the front. My intention is never to create a story that leaves readers in suspense. I don't purposely create mysteries. I don't think much about concealing the identity of my villains or the purpose of their diabolical plans. I just write. Honestly, if I had my way, I'd just write about what happens when a girl (who might just have a talent for more than filling out a bra) meets a guy (who might just show a whole new side of himself in stressful situations). That's the real story I'm telling, and to be honest, the conspiracies and murders and threats and attacks are just there to make the story last more than fifty pages and to force the girl and the guy to see something special in each other they might otherwise have missed. So does that make it paranormal romantic suspense? Beats me.

Oh, I'm not really complaining about the label (though I hope it doesn't scare away people who like more light-hearted stories, just as much as I hope that my comic situations and sense of the ridiculous don't disappoint people looking for tense, heart-pounding action). I'm just musing on whether or not it's entirely appropriate. Maybe it is.

But I also hope that it won't freak out too many people when I finally getting around to writing that regency romp I've been planning for the last couple of years. There isn't an Other or a mystery or a conspiracy in sight of that one! What will people say then?