~ Women in Horror Month Part II – women writers of today’s urban fantasy

In my last post celebrating February’s annual Women in Horror Month, we looked back at women writers of vampire fiction from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

Today we are going to expand our focus to popular women writers of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, primarily from the 2000s to the present day.

Disclaimer – my reading time is woefully limited, so I confess to not having read most of these. If you have any comments on these writers or their works, please leave them. And if there is a writer who should be on this list and isn’t, please leave their name and the title of their novel or series in the comments as well.

Below is a list of urban fantasy/paranormal romance authors and their most popular books or series:

Kelly Armstrong ~~ Otherworld series (also Bitten TV show; werewolves)
Ilona Andrews ~~ Kate Daniels series (magic)
Annie Bellet ~~ The Twenty-Sided Sorceress series (aka Jade Crow series; magic)
Anne Bishop ~~ The Others series (magic, shapeshifters)
Patricia Briggs ~~ Mercy Thompson series (shapeshifters, werewolves)
Kresley Cole ~~ Immortals After Dark series (PNR)
Jennifer Estep ~~ Elemental Assassin series (magic)
Heather Graham ~~ Krewe of Hunters series (paranormal)
Kim Harrison ~~ The Hollows series (aka Rachel Morgan series; witches, vampires)
Stacia Kane ~~ Downside Ghosts series (aka Chess Putnam series; paranormal)
Sherrilyn Kenyon ~~ Dark Hunter series (PNR)
Karen Marie Moning ~~ Fever series (Barrons, supernatural Irish Fae)
Lilith Saintcrow ~~ Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet series (necromancer; exorcist)
Gena Showalter ~~ Lords of the Underworld series (demons & angels)
Nalini Singh ~~ Psy/Changeling (PNR) and Guild Hunter series (psychics/shapeshifters; archangels)
Carrie Vaughn ~~ Kitty Norville series (werewolves)

And because vampires are in my blood, here is a list of those writers whose stories center around our favorite fanged ones:

Keri Arthur ~~ Riley Jenson series
LA Banks ~~ Vampire Huntress Legend series
ML Brennan ~~ Generation V series
Rachel Caine ~~ Morganville Vampires series
Christine Feehan ~~ Dark series
Jeaniene Frost ~~ Night Huntress series
Barbara Hambly ~~ James Asher series (Those Hunt the Night is a must read!!)
Laurell K Hamilton ~~ Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series
Charlaine Harris ~~ The Southern Vampire Mysteries (aka Sookie Stackhouse series; alsoTrue Blood TV series)
Faith Hunter ~~ Jane Yellowrock series
Nancy Kilpatrick ~~ Power of the Blood series
Elizabeth Kostova ~~ The Historian (meticulously researched, this is like The DaVinci Code with vampires – a must read)
Robin McKinley ~~ Sunshine (award winning urban fantasy Neil Gaiman called “pretty much perfect.”)
Richelle Mead ~~ Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series
Stephenie Meyer ~~ Twilight Saga series
Chloe Neill ~~ Chicagoland Vampires series
Nora Roberts ~~ Circle trilogy
Lynsay Sands ~~ Argeneau/Rogue Hunter series
LJ Smith ~~ Vampire Diaries series (also The Vampire Diaries and The Originals TV shows)
Jeanne C Stein ~~ Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles
JR Ward ~~ Black Dagger Brotherhood series

Tomorrow’s post will feature up-and-coming writers of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, so be sure to check back. And if you’d like to be included, please contact me. If you miss out on tomorrow’s post, please contact me if you’d like to appear in a future Author Spotlight.

And again, if you have any authors or books you’d like to add to the above lists, please feel free to mention them in a comment.

~RM~