Fantasy Focus: Romantic Fantasy Featuring L. Krauch

This month I am doing a Fantasy Focus on Romantic Fantasy. This is a subgenre that I have had a great time learning more about. Today I am privileged to have L. Krauch, author of the The 13th Zodiac series, talk about her experience with romantic fantasy.

While I classify The 13th Zodiac as “Final” Fantasy in aesthetic, it also has elements of romantic fantasy. The core of the story revolves around the two main characters, Jase and Liya, finding one another. 

It begins with happenstance (or is it?). Jase Raion is set on a mission by his father, the King of Chall, to track down someone he was certain was dead. Low and behold, he finds her. Well, she runs into him and drops his apple in the process. What follows it is a whirlwind of longing touches, a distant prince who had been burned in the past, and a plot to not only end her life but all life on Gaea. I would say that The 13th Zodiac is Star-crossed lovers with a dash of One True Pairing. 

When I set out to write The 13th Zodiac I didn’t do so planning to write a love story. It was just one part of a much larger story. Twenty years ago it was a comic book that mostly consisted of cute anime boys that my friends thought were hot. (Jase being the hottest, of course). But twenty years and one pandemic later, I sat down and wrote my first novel. 

The love story within wasn’t the first thing on my mind. Yes, I wanted to get them together, but I wanted it to feel real and not just because they were meant to be. The hardest part I found with writing it was trying to keep it real. That the love between them grew in a natural way, and I wasn’t just throwing them together for a “Hey I just met you, let’s totally do it” type feel. 

Jase is distant and scorned by an ex-girlfriend and he tries to keep his feelings hidden from even himself. While Liya does fall for the first guy she met that wasn’t her adoptive brothers. There are, of course, roadblocks in the way of them being together. Jiroo (one of Liya’s adoptive brothers) sees her as his, even though she would never see him the same. This causes a rift and puts into motion a series of events where the reader is actually happy someone is kidnapped. 

Our lives tell stories just like we tell in our books. I drew from real-life inspiration for my romance and the obstacles within. Which also included some of the more negative sides to it (infatuation). 

Romance can also be anything, from love between two people, the love between siblings (or in my case love from a sibling that is misdirected), love of family, and love of self. (Or even love of something dear to you) There isn’t one right way to write it. And it doesn’t always end in happily ever after. You do what feels right, and natural to you. Someone will connect with it on a level you never expected. 

I certainly didn’t expect to write romantic fantasy, but after all was said and done I discovered I had. I always planned to get my characters together. I am glad I wrote it the way I did and wouldn’t try to change it. 

About the Author:

The 13th Zodiac is an Epic Fantasy, slow-burn romance with a hint of Anime. Originally, L. Krauch wrote it as a comic book in high school. Back then, it was merely pages drawn on computer paper to bring smiles to her audience of thirteen. The problem was, it had no plot. Now, twenty years, and three kids later, she sat down, gave that plotless comic a plot, and turned it into a sprawling multi-pov fantasy novel. 

Her day job is sticking things to newborns, and by sticking things to newborns, she means hearing screens. 

In her free time, she hangs out with her black cat, Luna, and keeps three small humans from killing each other. She and her husband have been happily married for twelve years and originally met in an MMO. To maintain her sanity, she now writes. And she may or may not have a thing for apples. 

To Purchase: The 13th Zodiac

Final Fantasy with actual romance

A Crown Prince running from his past, and a girl who can barely remember her own, are thrown together to combat the evils of the King of Chall. 

Time is not on their side. And Fate has other plans.