30+ Indie Urban Fantasy Authors—including Ilona Andrews, Brandon Sanderson, more
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“I loved the idea that there could be magic and supernatural beings right here in our world, potentially hidden among us…”
—Whitney Hill
Based on a past life (under another name), I can tell you from experience that being a “published author” isn’t always easy. Sometimes the problem is all the hands that can grab the wheel when not all those people in publishing know how to drive. And then there are problems that come up where the publishing folks had good ideas, but there were difficulties with the market or with other forces outside of their control.
So it is no surprise that so many authors today are have gone the indie route—either partially or completely. As such, I want to celebrate several self-published and hybrid urban fantasy authors out there.
This list includes several authors who have been recommended in various places and who write urban fantasy (a genre category which I describe below). Right now, find links for Ilona Andrews, Jessica Cage, Dan Willis, Whitney Hill, N.E. Conneely, D.M. Guay, N.D. Jones, Devin Hanson, Deborah Wilde, Kenesha Williams, James Scott Bell, Lindsay Buroker, Moni Boyce, Angela Wallace, Harry Connolly, Delizhia Jenkins, Annie Bellet, Connie Suttle, Amber Fisher, Debra Dunbar, Ashley Beasley, Heather Elizabeth King, K.N. Banet, Jennifer Blackstream, C.C. Solomon, B.R. Kingsolver, Kristen Brand, C. Gockel, McKenzie Hunter, LaVerne Thompson, D.L. Blade, Annie Anderson, Kristin Kova, Lauretta Hignett and Brandon Sanderson.
This page is a work in progress: Over time, I plan to add more information about each of the authors, and to also add more authors as I become aware of them.
What Is “Urban Fantasy”?
Sometimes, it can be a bit tricky to parse whether or not something is a work of “urban fantasy” and/or a related category like horror, paranormal romance, or magical realism. In a nutshell, urban fantasy is a sub-category of fantasy which infuses monsters or the supernatural into a contemporary or everyday setting. So—vampires, werewolves, magical beings, and the like. In these stories, the fantastical elements might operate in secret or they might operate out in the open and are known to the public.
In a way, you can track the origins of the urban fantasy category back for several decades. Depending on whom you ask, milestones include Manly Wade Wellman’s occult detective stories in the 1940s, the Chicago-set TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker in the 1970s, the supernatural comedy films Ghostbusters and Teen Wolf in the 1980s, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film and TV) and the X-Files in the 1990s.
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#1 Ilona Andrews
The author name “Ilona Andrews” represents the husband-and-wife writing team of Ilona (a native-born Russian) and Gordon (a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army). The couple are the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors of urban fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal fiction. Their bestselling series include the #1 NYT bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels, rustic fantasy of The Edge, paranormal romance of Hidden Legacy, and Innkeeper Chronicles. Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas with their two children and many dogs and cats.
In an interview with author Nalini Singh, Ilona explained that the fight scenes in their books are choreographed before they go on the page. “One of the things I hope people will keep in mind is that these fights are there for entertainment purposes only,” she said. “We do take artistic liberties in the name of coolness.”
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#2 Jessica Cage
USA Today best-selling urban fantasy author Jessica Cage writes the Djinn Rebellion Series, the Alpha werewolf series, High Arc Vampires, and Scorned by the Gods. Cage also joined with authors Delizhia Jenkins, Jennifer Laslie, Mikel Wilson, E.M. Lacey and Kish Knight for the shared universe saga Rise of the Elites.
Born and raised in Chicago, Ill., Cage had never considered following her dream to be a writer. During pregnancy, she asked herself an important question: How would she be able to inspire her unborn son to follow his dreams and reach for the stars, if she never had the guts to do it herself? Jessica decided to take a risk and unleash the plethora of characters and their crazy adventurous worlds that had previously existed only in her mind, into the realm of readers. She hopes to continue writing and bringing her signature Caged Fantasies to readers everywhere.
“No matter how great the action is, if I don’t connect with the characters, I am immediately turned off by it,” author Cage told Monster Complex. “I want to care about what happens to them and I want to become invested in their stories.”
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#3 Dan Willis
Born in Washington D.C. and growing up in rural Maryland, Dan Willis has worked as a computer programmer, technical writer, game designer, software tester, web designer, and even insurance salesman. An avid reader from an early age, Dan got his first professional writing opportunity from Wizards of the Coast, writing some books for their iconic DragonLance series. His own fiction includes The Arcane Casebook series (about a down-and-out detective trying to make a living in a magical 1930’s New York) and The Arcane Irregulars series (a spinoff involving an Arcane-world policeman and an FBI agent). Dan lives in Utah with his wife and children.
“I love noir movies, the high style Art Deco of 1930s, and I’m a madman for police procedural TV series,” author Willis told Monster Complex. “It was the perfect fusion of my experience and I’m so glad I took a chance to write outside my normal genre. Now I love writing mysteries for Alex and mixing in those great Dieselpunk, retro-sci-fi elements with a twist of magic.”
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#4 Whitney Hill
Author Whitney Hill is the writer of the Shadows of Otherside fantasy series and the Otherside Heat paranormal romance series. Her first book, Elemental, was the grand prize winner of the 8th Annual WD Self-Published E-Book Awards. Her second book, Eldritch Sparks, was one of Kirkus Reviews’ Top 100 Indie Books of 2021. Whitney is also a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and the founder of indie publishing imprint Benu Media. When she’s not writing or consulting, Whitney enjoys hiking in North Carolina’s beautiful state parks and playing video games.
“I loved the idea that there could be magic and supernatural beings right here in our world, potentially hidden among us,” author Hill told SPFM. “But I rarely or never saw protagonists who looked like me, and that bugged me. So I wrote my own story.”
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#5 N.E. Conneely
Urban fantasy author N.E. Conneely is a huge fan of Ann Bishop, Mercedes Lackey, Patricia Briggs, Tamora Pierce, and Raymond E. Feist. Conneely’s fiction includes A Witch’s Path series (where a witch serves as a consultant for the local police), the Kelsey Pine: Urban Necromancer series (where a witch helps the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations solve magical crimes), the Earth Born Cycle series (where a young lady, instead of helping her family track down criminals, is teaching adolescent dragons how to behave) and Witch’s Path World series (a spinoff series of books that explore more of the world from A Witch’s Path).
“Growing up I read so many novels with fantasy elements and I fell in love with the genre,” author Conneely explained. “Not only does it transport the reader to a wonderful new world, but it’s allows you to enjoy adventure without living through the hardships. Plus, many of the problems characters face in a fantasy world mirror ones each of us face in life. To me, that gives the reader a way to process a problem that they may struggle with in real life in a much less threatening way.”
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#6 Alicia Ellis
Blood Spells is a dark, standalone, young adult supernatural mystery full of dramatic twists and turns. Not for the faint of heart.
Alicia Ellis decided to write books about ten minutes before graduating from law school. Now, she’s an Atlanta attorney moonlighting as an author, electronics junkie, and secret superhero. With two degrees in computer science and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction, she loves creative problem-solving, especially as it relates to high-tech things.
Alicia writes mysteries, sometimes for young adults, sometimes in fantasy or science fiction settings, and sometimes in the real world. Her debut novel, Girl of Flesh and Metal, a young adult sci-fi mystery, was the first self-published book ever to make the American Library Association’s LITA Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists.
Alicia Ellis writes sci-fi, contemporary, and fantasy mysteries. She is the author of the supernatural mystery Blood Spells, the sci-fi action cyborg series “Girl of Flesh and Metal,” and the “Gray Girls” mystery. Ellis told the GIRL MEETS MONSTER site that her love for SF and Fantasy came because her father raised her on Star Trek and Star Wars.
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#7 D.M. Guay
Horror comedy author D.M. Guay’s 24/7 Demon Mart series is for fans of Terry Pratchett, Christopher Moore and A. Lee Martinez. The author is a big geek, huge horror fan, and loves stand-up comedy. Guay mish-mashes her love of all that’s scary/gory/geeky/funny into stories about creeps and critters, ghouls and ghosts, and all of the unseemly things that go bump in the night.
“With my series 24/7 Demon Mart I hope to put the fun back in fantasy and the comedy back in horror,” Guay says on her author website. “I’m an award-winning former journalist living in Ohio, a hobby urban farmer who is currently attempting to grow a 1,000 pound pumpkin in her backyard, and a retired roller derby player.”
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#8 N.D. Jones
A finalist for the U.S. Selfies book awards, which honor the best indie-published titles each year, N.D. Jones, Ed.D. is a USA Today bestselling author who wanted to see more novels with positive, sexy, and three-dimensional Black characters as soul mates, friends, and lovers.
Taking on that challenge herself, Jones founded Kuumba Publishing, an art, audiobook, eBook, and paperback company with a special commitment to promoting and encouraging creative works from authors and artists of African descent. (Kuumba is a Swahili word for “creativity.” It is also the Sixth Principle of Kwanzaa, the African-American cultural holiday.) The company has published several of her novels.
Her books include the urban fantasy duology Feline Nation, the paranormal romance Death and Destiny trilogy, the paranormal romance series Winged Warriors and the Dragon Shifter Romance series.
In an interview, Jones claimed that a few years ago, she didn’t read a lot of fiction. However, her brand of paranormal romances were inspired by a particular romance story from comic books of all places.
“A few years ago I heard Marvel was going to have Storm and Black Panther marry—an unprecedented move by the comic book company,” Jones explained to Dante Craddock Author. “As an African American woman and fan of X-Men’s Storm, I was intrigued enough to buy all the comics leading up to their marriage.”
The experience helped Jones fall in love with stories featuring romantic relationships—especially if they included African or African American characters. However, Jones was disappointed when Marvel Comics dissolved the marriage between Storm and Black Panther. Worse, there was no comparable comic she could turn to to get that particular enjoyment fix.
“So, for me,” Jones said, “what makes my brand of romance special is that I write what I see as a dearth in the paranormal romance genre—African/African American love with a paranormal twist. I spend a lot of time developing the mythology of my stories, as well as the execution of the paranormal element. If I write a book with witches and shape-shifters, I think it’s important to actually show what it means to be a witch and shape-shifter. That’s one thing a reader of my books can look forward to. The paranormal is not a sidebar in my novels. It’s center stage and critical to the plot.”
Jones lives in Maryland with her husband and two children.
Find out more about N.D. Jones here:
#9 Deborah Wilde
A global wanderer, former screenwriter, and total cynic with a broken edit button, Deborah Wilde writes funny urban fantasy and paranormal women’s fiction. Her stories feature sassy women who kick butt, strong female friendships, and swoony, sexy romance. She’s all about the happily ever after, with a huge dose of hilarity along the way. Wilde lives in Vancouver with her husband, daughter and cat, Abra.
“I’ve always adored fantasy and magic worlds,” Wilde told Monster Complex. “I was an avid reader girl growing up, but I never saw myself in the pages of any books, unless it was a Holocaust story or one specifically about anti-semitism. Those are incredibly important stories to tell, but I wanted to see someone like me having magical adventures and being the object of desire.”
Wilde says that when she decided to leave screenwriting and pursue urban fantasy, it was a “no brainer” to draw from her religion and mythology to create these characters and worlds. “And since snarkiness is my default mode, all my stories are comedic. I love exploring theme through the lens of comedy.”
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#10 Kenesha Williams
Kenesha Williams is an author, screenwriter, and speaker. She’s also the founder and editor-in-chief of Black Girl Magic Lit Mag, which is a speculative fiction literary magazine.
Her novel Blood Debt offers a unique take on vampire sagas. “I don’t like vampires that are too romantic, pretty, and that aren’t scary,” Williams told Monster Complex. “Vampires are monsters! I want my monsters to be monsters. If they’re monsters with a pretty face and insane blood lust, I can roll with that. I like the idea of people/monsters not being what they appear to be.”
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#11 James Scott Bell
Lawyer-turned-suspense-writer James Scott Bell came up with a humorous horror angle that included a zombie lawyer taking on supernatural cases. Originally published under a different pen name, the Zombie-at-Law Series later was re-released under Bell’s own name.
Wait—zombie legal thrillers? You read that right. It’s part John Grisham, part Raymond Chandler—except the lawyer is dead. Mallory Caine, Zombie at Law, defends the creatures no other lawyer will touch…and longs to reclaim her real life…
Bell is a winner of the International Thriller Writers Award and the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, Plot & Structure (Writer’s Digest Books). His thrillers include the Mike Romeo thriller series; the Ty Buchanan legal thriller series; and the vigilante nun action series Force of Habit.
Regarding his zombie lawyer series, Bell told Kristen Lamb about his “world rules” for this series and they differ from standard zombie rules. (Like, what is the explanation for the zombies retaining their mental faculties?)
“One nice thing about paranormal ‘rules’ is that you can make them up as long as you’re consistent. I mean, zombies were not flesh eaters until George Romero. Before that they were simply mindless and controlled. I combined all of that, but with the proviso that a zombie with a strong enough will can resist being controlled. Mallory is strong-willed, for sure. She is fierce and intelligent and witty. But there’s something else going on, too. A greater scheme of things she is only slightly aware of.”
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#12 Lindsay Buroker
Lindsay Buroker is a full-time independent fantasy and science fiction author who has written more than sixty novels, appeared on the USA Today bestseller list, and has been twice nominated for a Goodreads Readers’ Choice Award. Her current urban fantasy series Legacy of Magic features adventure, snarky humor, and slow-burn romance stories with badass elf assassins. She also has books in the urban fantasy Death Before Dragons series; the mystery, magic, slow-burn romance A Witch in Wolf Wood series; the epic fantasy Dragon Gate series, which pits a small band of mercenaries and archaeologists against the wizard rulers who are oppressing humanity; the Star Kingdom science fiction series, a mix between Star Wars and Big Bang Theory where the smart geeky heroes get to save the day; and lots more.
“I’m still writing the kind of stories I love,” Buroker told The Creative Penn, “even if that means genre-hopping…but I really like to follow my muse and then worry about marketing afterward.”
Buroker explained to New In Books what inspired her new Legacy of Magic series. “I wrote ten books in my Death Before Dragons urban fantasy series with a talented, tall, and beautiful half-elf heroine. Elves are always popular in fantasy! But dwarves are usually the sidekicks. When it was time to write a spinoff series, I thought, Let’s do a half-dwarf this time. She’s stout, strong, and attracts all the wrong guys (some with tusks). She’s been a fun departure from those elfy types.”
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#13 Moni Boyce
Moni Boyce is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romance, a filmmaker and a poet. After working in the film industry for fifteen years, helping others bring their visions to life, she now creates characters and worlds of her own. She considers herself a bookworm, film buff, foodie, music lover and an avid world traveler having visited 33 countries, 5 continents and 27 US states, so far.
Her Oracle Chronicles series is a gripping paranormal romance adventure: She’s the Oracle, and he’s a witch bound to protect her. On the run from the vampire king, will their forbidden romance lead to love or to the grave?
Author Boyce told Monster Complex, “In the Oracle Chronicles, even though I mention different supernatural groups, most of the focus is on witches and vampires. In the spin-off, we’ll get to learn more about some of the other supernatural factions: faeries, shifters, etc. as Phaedra and Max leave The Protectors to have a new adventure. I also have plans for other spin-off series in this world.”
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#14 Harry Connolly
Child of Fire, Harry Connolly’s debut novel and the first in The Twenty Palaces series, was named to Publishers Weekly’s Best 100 Novels of 2009. The involves the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. Both sequels, Game of Cages and Circle of Enemies, received starred reviews.
Connolly also wrote King Khan, a gaming tie-in novel set in the Spirit of the Century role-playing game system. Connolly has also self-published a Twenty Palaces prequel titled (cleverly) Twenty Palaces; a pacifist urban fantasy called A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark; and a collection of short fiction called Bad Little Girls Die Horrible Deaths and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy. Harry lives in Seattle with his wife and son.
“Every Twenty Palaces novel is better than the last.” (The Irresponsible Reader)
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#15 Delizhia Jenkins
Delizhia Jenkins has authored multiple books, ranging from adult paranormal romance to urban fantasy for young adults. A longtime fan of the paranormal and the unseen, Miss Jenkin told Monster Complex that she was inspired to create her own vampire series as a way to pay tribute to the late L.A. Banks:
“The Vampire Hunters Academy started out as a ‘Thank You’ to Ms. Banks. It was a way for me to keep her memory alive. But the characters I created are not based off of her—the storyline is a intricately woven web of everything that I know about vampires and their origins, mixed with everything I’ve learned about religion, spirituality and mythology.”
Read the whole interview here: Vampire Q&A: Delizhia Jenkins (Vampire Hunters Academy)
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#16 Annie Bellet
Annie Bellet is the USA Today bestselling author of The Twenty-Sided Sorceress series, which features a sorceress hiding from her crazy ex-boyfriend in a town with latent magic and supernatural creatures. (Of course, hiding out doesn’t work for long—so she has to come to terms with what she is and figure out how to defeat her ex and keep her friends safe.)
Bellet has also written the Gryphonpike Chronicles series, and Six-Gun Shifters series. An Alfie Award winner and former Hugo Award finalist, she holds a BA in English and a BA in Medieval Studies and thus can speak a smattering of useful languages such as Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Welsh.
Her interests besides writing include rock climbing, reading, horse-back riding, video games, comic books, table-top RPGs and many other nerdy pursuits. She lives in the Netherlands with her husband.
Bellet told SFF World why she loves urban fantasy: “I love that it’s our world, but not quite. There’s all the familiar stuff, but also all the stories humans have told themselves over the millennia can be real, too. So it’s a good blend of fantastic and familiar that I think allows characters and settings to resonate with readers like myself.”
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#17 Devin Hanson
Author Devin Hanson has written the mystery fantasy series Fate of the Magi (running grifts on minor nobles and crooked merchants puts a roof over her head, but Talia Farmer needs something more); the vampire romance series Halfblood Legacy (a private investigator lives on the fringes, making a living by doing odd jobs and aiding clients with problems that would raise eyebrows); and the sword & sorcery fantasy series Dragon Speaker (in a world ruled by dragons, Andrew Condign is an ordinary man with dreams of a better world, where humans can live without the constant fear of dragon attacks).
Hanson spent his childhood in Oregon programming computers and playing Dungeons and Dragons. When he grew up and became a counselor, he developed his insight into the human condition—which also sparked his interest in writing. Currently, Hanson works as a web developer, spending his free time creating tales of fantasy and science fiction.
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#18 Connie Suttle
Connie Suttle is the author of the urban fantasy adventure Dragon Witch series, the paranormal urban fantasy Blood Destiny series, the sci-fi action adventure Black Rose Sorceress series, the post-apocalyptic SF and epic fantasy First Ordinance series, the supernatural mystery R-D series, the paranormal urban fantasy High Demon series, and more.
After earning an MFA in Film Production and Animation, Connie taught courses in those subjects for a few years before taking a job as a manager for Borders booksellers. When she left the company, she began writing her own books. She lives in Oklahoma with her patient, long-suffering husband and three cats. (The cats are neither patient or long-suffering, as cats tend to be.)
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#19 Amber Fisher
Paranormal mystery writer Amber Fisher writes novels that feature magic, the paranormal, treachery, and murder. Her Rest in Power Necromancy trilogy is a mystery series exploring ancestral magic and our collective need to heal from the past. Fisher’s Sinful House Paranormal Mysteries series features the Seven Deadly Sins in a reality show competition to become “America’s Favorite Sin.”
Originally from Los Angeles, Amber lives in Austin, Texas, her home for the past 20+ years. When not writing, Amber enjoys putzing around in Photoshop, hiking, yoga, home improvement, crafting, and binge-watching Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse, and/or The Last Kingdom. Amber has written for Houghton Mifflin as the lead web writer on the Amanda Project, an interactive, multi-platform YA adventure. She is also the author of a metaphysical non-fiction book published by ECW Press. She loves writing about magic, fringe science, the unexplained, and dessert.
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#20 Debra Dunbar
Author Debra Dunbar writes urban and dark fantasy, paranormal romance—and fiendishly fun fiction. After majoring in English Literature with a concentration in Medieval and Folklore studies, Dunbar sold out to the corporate world—occasionally dabbling in writing marketing copy and op/ed articles for a local city paper. By day, she designs compensation programs, after dark she stuffs her nose into obscure mythology, and feverishly writes her novels.
Her debut novel is A Demon Bound (Imp Series Book 1). She has also written the Imp World urban fantasy California Demon series, the laugh-out loud antihero Imp urban fantasy series, the paranormal witches & wizards romance series Accidental Witches, the paranormal and urban fantasy The Templar series, and the 9-book Imp World Series.
“I’ve always loved fantasy and the idea that there might be something more behind the very normal world we live in,” Dunbar said when being interviewed by Yasmine Galenorn. “With my novels, I get to bring all my wild imaginings out and share them with readers. A dragon claiming the British Museum as part of his treasure hoard? Mermaids and sirens in Lake Michigan? The most powerful angel in all of heaven falling in love with an imp from Hel? I get to make it all happen!”
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#21 Ashley Beasley
Urban fantasy author Ashley Beasley writes stories about sarcastic necromancers, sword-wielding druids and “fat-ass cats.” Beasley has been in love with mythology, folklore, and the paranormal for as long as she can remember and wants to share that love with her readers.
The author’s books are packed with intriguing characters, deadly magic and mystery. Her Eve Williams series stars a woman who talks to the dead and solves their murders…
Beasley lives in the Midwest with her husband, their children, a dog, and their own, well, fat-ass cat.
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#22 Heather Elizabeth King
Heather Elizabeth King is the author of dark fiction—she writes urban fantasy, horror, and paranormal romance. Her fiction includes the Zoey Matthews Bridgeport Mysteries series., including Zoey Matthews, the Undead Ghost, and the Demon (A Bridgeport Mystery Book 1), Zoey Matthews, the Unwanted Ghost, and the Cursed Manuscript (A Bridgeport Mystery Book 2) and Zoey Matthews, the Undead Ex, and the Missing Ghost (A Bridgeport Mystery Book 3). She also wrote the dystopian Doomsday: A Remy Jones Adventure.
King has given paranormal presentations at various conventions, including The Romantic Times Convention, MystiCon, and HallowRead. Most days Heather can be found at her laptop working on her next book.
“If you’re like me, there’s nothing you like better than a good read,” King says on her website. “I grew up with five older sisters and they all loved horror movies. As a result, I was introduced to all things scary at a young age. Some of my favorite memories are of gathering around the television on a Saturday night with my family to watch a scary movie on HBO. I’d seen The Howling, Evil Dead, and Friday the 13th, all before I was old enough to date. It was only natural that when I started writing my own stories, they’d be paranormal.”
Of course, she says, she also writes romance. “With monsters, and urban fantasy…with even more monsters,” the author says. “My horror has…you get the idea! If you like a good monster tale as much as I do, browse my pages and check out a few of my books. The book description says whether it’s a romance, urban fantasy, or horror.”
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#23 K.N. Banet
Living in Arizona with her husband and 5 pets (2 dogs and 3 cats), K.N. Banet enjoys writing about the complexities of relationships, no matter the type—familial, romantic, or even political. The connections between characters is what draws her into writing all of her work. The ideas of responsibility, passion, and forging one’s own path all make appearances.
Banet’s books include the Jacky Leon series (about a werecat in a world where monsters make people lock their doors), the Kaliya Sahni series (urban fantasy about a tribunal executioner) and the Everly Abbott series (about a human deeply entrenched in the world of vampires).
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#24 Jennifer Blackstream
Jennifer Blackstream is a USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Her fiction includes books in the Blood Prince series (paranormal romance) plus bonus adventures in the Blood Prince World, her Blood Prince spin-off series the Blood Realm series (paranormal romance, in progress), and her Blood Trails series (urban fantasy, ongoing).
Blackstream revealed to The Single Librarian the hardest part of being an author: “Writing even when you don’t feel like it. Writing is a lot like exercising sometimes. You need a routine, otherwise days can go by with no progress.”
The author is grateful to have made a writing career out of a Master’s degree in Psychology, hours of couch-detecting watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and endless research into mythology and fairy tales. She firmly believes that whether it’s a village witch deciding she wants to be a private investigator, or a single mother having a go at being a full time writer, it’s never too late for a new adventure.
Blackstream will give you free copies Temptation (Blood Trails 0.5) and What Big Teeth You Have (Blood Prince 2.5) when you sign up for her mailing list.
Find out more about Jennifer Blackstream here:
#25 C.C. Solomon
An avid “chick lit” reader and urban fantasy fan, C.C. Solomon is a USA Today bestselling author who has actively written fiction since the age of eleven. Her fiction includes the Paranormal World series, the Paranormal Times series, the Paranormal Lands series, and the Paranormal Rising series.
Solomon works in Equal Employment and Civil Rights for the Federal Government. Before becoming a public servant, C.C. briefly practiced law after graduating from the University of Maryland School of Law. In free time she loves to travel and is obsessed with horror, anime and K-dramas!
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#26 B.R. Kingsolver
B.R. Kingsolver’s books include adult urban fantasy, witchy mysteries, and science fiction. Her fiction includes the Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill series, the Chameleon Assassin series, the Dark Streets series, the Rift Chronicles series, and the Crossroads Chronicles series.
“I believe in fiction as an escape,” Kingsolver says on her author website, “with devastatingly beautiful women and incredibly sexy men. All of my books are about strong female characters who aren't afraid to take on challenges, stand up for what they believe in, and protect those they love.”
Sample chapters from most of her books are available on her author website.
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#27 Kristen Brand
If Kristen Brand could have any superpower, she’d want telekinesis so she wouldn’t have to move from her computer to pour a new cup of tea. She spends far too much time on the internet, and when she’s not writing, she’s usually reading novels or comic books. Her fiction includes the Dark and Otherworldly series, the White Knight & Black Valentine Series series, and the Texts From Beyond series. She lives in Florida, the Sunshine State, and will someday go outside for long enough to actually get some sun.
“I think I owe a lot to the urban fantasy authors who made the genre big in the early 2000s,” Brand told One Book More. “Those books popularized kickass heroines with magical know-how fighting supernatural threats, and there’s a lot of that in the DNA of the Dark and Otherworldly series. Fantasy was the genre that first got me into reading and remains my favorite to this day. I think books are magical, so there’s something especially fitting about reading stories that have magic in them.”
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#28 C. Gockel
C. Gockel has been writing stories for her friends and family for years. Her fiction includes the I Bring the Fire series—starring Loki, Norse God of Mischief and Chaos. She also writes the cosmic sc-fi series Archangel Project.
In an interview, the author said that in her Norse-mythic-urban-fantasy series I Bring the Fire, the hardest character for her to write is Odin. “Loki is my hero, and Odin is the antagonist,” Gockel said, “but Odin is more moral than Loki. Odin is so much better than what was before him, but so terrible by our modern values and incapable, or unwilling, to change. He wants to be good; and fails so horribly.”
However, she says that Odin is actually not her most difficult character to write. “That distinction goes to Professor James Sinclair in the Archangel Project, my sci-fi series,” Gockel says. “He thinks he is one thing, but is something else. Since half of the series is from his point of view I had to make him convincingly ‘other’ and yet not turn audiences off. It was a tightrope walk from the get-go, but peeling back the layers has been fun, and allowed me to explore what it means to be human and alive.”
Find out more about C. Gockel here:
#29 McKenzie Hunter
McKenzie Hunter is the author of urban fantasy, dark fantasy, and paranormal romance books. Her fiction includes the Raven Cursed series (she is frenemies with the local werewolves’ Alpha, her clients are shady as hell, and her magic falls firmly in the WTF category), the Legacy series (full of non-stop action with unexpected twists, adventure, humor, and flirty romance), the Sky Brooks series (full of edge-of-your-seat adventure, mystery with unexpected twists, humor, and a slow-burn romance), and the Magic of the Damned series (They say you should never make a deal with the devil, but what about with the Prince of the Underworld?).
Hunter discovered early that new adventures were just a page-turn away—all she had to do was read a book. She’s had her share of escapades from hanging out with vamps, joining the chaos of shifter packs, creating spells with witches, and avoiding deals with the fae. When she isn’t working on her next book, she’s reading, binge-watching TV, or disappearing into her own world during nature walks (probably on the lookout for magical beings—or maybe not).
Find out more about McKenzie Hunter here:
#30 D.L. Blade
D.L. Blade has always loved the art of creative writing. During her younger years, she focused on writing poetry. One night, she had a vivid dream that would inspire her to pick up the pen and write her debut novel, The Dark Awakening. Her books include the Immortals of East Greenwich series, the Zemiran Chronicles series, and the Blood of the Chosen series.
Blade enjoys putting her focus into creating adult fantasy and paranormal romance novels, where the dark and broody villain with a twisted past finds his heart in the woman he has ensnared. Her dream is to continue to create exciting novels for her readers to explore and to take them on a journey through the endless magical realms that spill from the pages.
In her interview with One Book More, Blade explained the process for creating her own twist on witches, vampires, awakenings, and other paranormal elements: “Being that I have read a lot of paranormal, I wanted something unique. I loved the idea of creating my own origin to how a vampire was made, and having a coven created from the actual universal elements. I wanted something that would grab a reader and keep them reading throughout the series, while I brought in the parts we all love from young adult paranormal storylines, but bringing in new, refreshing ideas to help it stand out from others.”
Find out more about D.L. Blade here:
#31 Annie Anderson
Annie Anderson is the author of the action-packed, dark humor Grave Talker series, the steamy paranormal romance The Wrong Witch series, the adult urban fantasy Rogue Ethereal series and the bounty hunter steamy vampire romance Soul Reader series.
As a military wife and United States Air Force veteran, Annie enjoys reading or diving head-first into any art project she can get her hands on. Originally from Texas, she is a southern girl at heart, but has lived all over the US and abroad. As soon as the military stops moving her family around, she'll settle on a state, but for now, she enjoys being a nomad with her husband, daughters, and cantankerous dogs.
Find out more about Annie Anderson here:
#32 Kristin Kova
Kristin Kova is an urban fantasy author from the United Kingdom. She writes about relatable women who kick ass, and magic-packed stories full of heart and action with a side of sizzling steam. Her books include The Shadow Order: Vampire series and the Coven of Magic series.
Find out more about Kristin Kova here:
#33 Lauretta Hignett
A raving fangirl for all things paranormal, supernatural, magical and fantastical, Lauretta writes fun, fast-paced Urban Fantasy – unique, kickass characters and madcap adventures with a dash of romance and loads of laughs. She’s a massive fan of anything shifter, witch or vampire, she loves a plot twist, hates cliffhangers, and always keeps her readers on their toes.
Her books include The Imogen Gray series, the Blood and Magic series, and the Foils and Fury series.
“Let’s face it, the real world is often far more insane than any fantasy story I could dream up,” Hignett told Monster Complex. “I’m inspired by everyday issues and I don’t shy away from controversial topics like religion and politics, which I think makes me fairly unique (even though some reviewers would prefer I stay away from these topics!) Sexism and classism in particular are key themes in my Foils and Fury series, and although I put a overly-dramatic, funny fantasy spin on everything, there are still deep issues being addressed within my books.”
Related link: Q&A: Lauretta Hignett on Foils and Fury: “I don’t shy away from controversial topics like religion and politics.”
Find out more about Lauretta Hignett here:
#34 Angela Wallace
Angela Wallace, winner of the 2013 Best Indie Book Award in Fantasy, has written the Elemental Magic series and the Dreamwalker saga, plus books like Supernatural Sleuth and Apocalypse Rising. She is quite at home in the world of urban fantasy, though believes that love, faith, and hope are of a stronger magic than fire-wielding and sorcery.
“I am a devout plotter and outline my stories before writing them, usually with pen and paper to start,” author Wallace says on her Smashwords page. “I’m a jigsaw puzzle person, which I guess translates into my writing because I like to know exactly what every piece is and how they all fit together. It saves me the headache of unexpected plot holes two-thirds of the way into a story. Oh, and I color code.”
Find out more about Angela Wallace here:
#35 Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson writes high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe—which is wide enough to include most of his fantasy novels, including the Mistborn series and the Stormlight Archive series. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written the somewhat dystopian superhero saga The Reckoners series, the Skyward series (an epic series about a girl with a secret in a dangerous world at war for humanity’s future), and the laugh-out-loud middle-grade fantasy series Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians. Sanderson is also known for finishing Robert Jordan’s high fantasy The Wheel of Time series.
That all said, the reason we’re including Sanderson in our list of “indie” authors is this: His March 2022 Kickstarter campaign became the most successful in history, finishing with 185,341 backers pledging $41,754,153. This led to the launch of Dragonsteel Books and the Secret Projects book series. This includes four new novels—one of them a standalone science fiction tale, and the other three in the Cosmere shared universe.
Find out more about Brandon Sanderson here:
More about Brandon Sanderson on Monster Complex
Related links
The Urban Fantasy Subgenre, Explained (Game Rant)
27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now | EW.com (Entertainment Weekly)
Seanan McGuire's Personal Top 10 Urban Fantasy Books for Adults (Tor.com)
10 Books Like The Dresden Files (Book Riot)
10 Spellbinding Books Like the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (The Portalist)
Urban fantasy novels: why they matter and which ones to read first (The Mandarin)
'Sandman Slim' Is Urban Fantasy With Brains, Guts And A Blackened Heart (NPR)
Urban fantasy fiction: there's more to it than sex with were-leopards (The Guardian)
5 Shows That Prove You Love Urban Fantasy — and What to Read After Watching (POPSUGAR)
10 Urban Fantasy Books You Should Read If You Loved 'Jessica Jones' (Bustle)
Shows Like Lucifer That Urban Fantasy Fans Need To See (Looper)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fans Are Ready For Real Paranormal Romance (Bleeding Cool)
The urban fantasy author stops by as part of her blog tour for her latest novel! Faith Hunter talks to Monster Complex about the fun—and challenges—of writing a magical story that’s also a police drama.