So, the novel I'm working on is an urban fantasy. While I greatly enjoy the genre I had initially resisted any desire to write within it. It seemed a bit like jumping on the band wagon.

However, from another perspective it's a great fit for me. First, my stories are often concerned with the outsider or the character that is somehow 'other'. Contemporary urban fantasy is all about this theme in many ways. First, the protagonist generally stands between two worlds. They are neither fully human (see the blood mage Kate Daniels, the skinwalker, both Mercy Thompson and Jane Yellowrock, or the Greywalker Harper Blaine) however they are also not a part of the groups of outsiders that have found established niches or with which they regularly interact such as vampires or werewolves.

Second, are, of course, the vampires and werewolves themselves. Beings often portrayed as trying to co-exist in a world innately alien and often hostile to their natures. Even with the confines of their peers they are fundamentally outcast from the 'real world' and forced to dwell in a shadow realm.

Not that these are new insights, but they do make clear to me both why the genre appeals and why my writing is suited to working within it.

It also sheds light into why such a niche is never going to really fade away. While epic fantasy and science fiction can, and do, often explore these ideas, it is within a broader framework and usually not so directly. And while trends in politics and preferences shift and so affect these other genres more strongly, it is highly unlikely that there will ever come a time when people do not feel alienated in some way. Heck, I'm pretty sure it's the only possible mentality between the ages of 13-19. I certainly felt that way as a teen, and continue to feel so at various points in my life.

It's human. And urban fantasy taps into that basic and core isolation that comes with being human. The desire to connect, be accepted, find love. All of these things resonate strongly in most urban fantasy.

Perhaps this is why the protagonists tend to be strong women. Because girls as a whole are more allowed to explore feeling lonely. Or maybe it's just that more women are writing in the genre. Hard to say which is the cause and effect there.

Regardless, I no longer feel like urban fantasy is a guilty pleasure. It has a lot to offer and I unabashedly like to partake. Hopefully when I add my own voice it will resonate half so well.