Michele Hauf’s Paranormal Party Post

Author Michele Hauf stops by Harlequin’s Paranormal Romance blog for our Paranormal Party! So which element from paranormal romance would she bring into real life? It’s not vampires or werewolves, so the answer may surprise you. Read on to find out!

by Michele Hauf

What elements of paranormal romance do I wish were real?

Well, I’m going to take a step away from the vampires and werewolves (though, don’t get me wrong, I can dig meeting one in real life, but no biting!) and go for something I think about a lot. Time Travel!

Have you ever wished you could travel to a different time period? I do. I think it’s a big reason why I write. I do write mostly contemporary stories for Nocturne, but I try to fit in some flashbacks to the times when my heroes and heroines were younger. And if you’ve read anything by me, you’ll guess that 18th century is one of my favs. Make it Paris, and I am so there.

Actually, I’ve published five historicals set in both 17th and 18th century Paris (those were out in late 90s, early 00s). It was all a part of living the time travel fantasy. To have lived in a different time period fascinates me. To be without technology. A simpler time. A sweeter time. Likely a darker time (no electrical lighting!). I know, the whole lacking toilet paper thing would not be fun. And modern medicine is not to be overlooked. But what really sets my heart aflutter about the past times, is the clothing. Women in those huge, ruffled dresses who couldn’t navigate a room without turning to the side and ducking (big wigs, don’t you know). And men in frockcoats with big cuffs and miles and miles of lace at their necks and wrists. Sigh…

So I’d pick mid-18th century France for my first time travel trip. I want to go visit Denis Diderot, the father of the modern encyclopedia. He was a rogue, a genius, a philosopher, a husband and lover. And he did it all in a damask frockcoat and lace.

If time travel were real and we could pick up a ticket to ride as simply as a bus pass, where would you go and who would you want to meet?

Michele latest releases include Moon Kissed (Silhouette Nocturne), After the Kiss (Silhouette Nocturne Bites), and “Racing the Moon” in the Midnight Cravings anthology on-sale this month. And look for Michele’s first HQN Book Her Vampire Husband in 2010!