If you’ve read a lot of fantasy and romantasy lately, you’ve probably felt it: vampire fatigue, fae fatigue.
So many books lean on the same tropes—brooding vampires with perfect hair, glittering fae royalty playing endless games of politics—that after a while, it all starts to blur together. I hear from readers all the time who say, “I’ve seen this before.”
Honestly? I feel the same way. Which is exactly why, when I write vampires and fae, I make sure they don’t fit into cookie-cutter molds.
In A Voice of Silver and Blood, for example, the fae aren’t shimmering tricksters holding court in glittering palaces. Faelan is a fallen king—exiled, grieving, and haunted by memories of everything his people lost. His story isn’t about politics; it’s about finding purpose in despair, and hope in hopelessness.
Over in Midnight Guardian, the vampires take a very different turn. They’re not flawless immortals waiting for romance to save them. They live with The Beast—a primal hunger that threatens to strip away everything human in them. Their rituals and rules exist not for show, but to keep that hunger at bay. Wolf, one of the most feared among them, carries claws that leave scars no vampire can heal. Even among monsters, he’s dangerous.
Vampires and fae might be familiar tropes, but in my worlds, they’re not just window dressing. They’re lenses—ways to explore deeper themes: survival, art, memory, love, and what it means to hold onto hope in a world drained of color.
That’s the heartbeat of my stories. And this is why I’m starting this “Behind the Stories” series—to share a little bit about how James and I twist expectations, layer meaning into our worlds, and hopefully give you something fresh in genres that sometimes feel overdone.
If you’re weary of the “same old vampire” or the “same old fae,” I hear you. But I promise—what we’re building here is something different. Something that, just maybe, will surprise you.
What trope are you most tired of seeing?