Every reader of romance loves a
strong, good-looking, patriotic hero. We
love to watch him being a gentleman, butting heads with the heroine, overcoming
obstacles, and eventually taking the lady as his partner. I, too, love a
well-developed, lovable hero, and I especially love the heroes in my books.
That might sound a little strange
for an author to say, but I really do love my heroes. I have author friends who
say they don’t like their stories or their characters by the time they finish
writing and rewriting and reading and rereading the stories. Not me. Sure I
hate to read the same words over and over, but I still love my characters,
especially my heroes, no matter how many times I have to read the same story.
I truly fall in love with the men
in my books. If I don’t, how can I expect my readers to love them? I guess when
an author creates a male character she pulls together all the good traits she
admires in her own, real-life heroes or what she’d want her ideal hero to be if
she could create a live one. Maybe we use traits from our husband, a brother or
our dads to come up with the men who make our stories so much fun to read.
The best compliment an author can
receive is to have a reader say something nice about a character. We want our
characters to live with readers long after they put the books down. I remember
my sister-in-law called me one day and told me she was mad at me. When I asked
why she told me she couldn’t keep her mind on her work because she couldn’t
stop thinking about Jake, my hero in ON THE CREST OF A WAVE. I had to smile and
wanted to pat myself on the back. I had done my job!
The most memorable hero I ever read
was actually not in a romance. He was Ari, the hero in Leon Uris’s EXODUS. He
possessed all the characteristics that I love in a man. When I saw the movie
version of EXODUS, I was disappointed because in my mind my Ari did not look
like Paul Newman. I loved Paul Newman, but not in my Ari’s role! I think from
my first reading of the book (yes, I read it twice) I loved Ari and I think I
use some of his characteristics in all of my heroes that I create today.
Do you have a favorite hero? If so,
who is he?
Hmmm. I think I’ll sit back, close
my eyes and dream about Ari for a while!
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Fran McNabb lives along the Gulf
Coast on a small, bayou harbor with her husband who just happens to be her very
own hero! She has four books published by Montlake, two Indie books, and soon
will have one romantic suspense by The Wild Rose Press. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com or contact her at
mcnabbf@bellsouth.net
I'm a sucker for a beta-hero - soft spoken, kind, strong work ethic. Yep, i can fall in love with a great well-written hero. (My favorite this week is the hero in LOVE COMES SOFTLY.) Ahhhh. Sighhhh.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read LOVE COMES SOFTLY, but it might be the next on my list. Thanks for stopping by, Sofie.
DeleteI love my heroes also. We almost have to be, or we can't get them right. As Sofie said - I also love the beta-hero. I'm tired of the stereotypical bad boy. I like taking our betas and making them strong when they need to be and soft spoken and kind the rest of the time. Now that's a romantic man!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite hero - my Dad. He was an amazing man. A lot of my male characters have a lot of Dad in them.
I think all of us pull from our dads. Even if they are/were not perfect, they were in the eyes of their little girls. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteHi Fran--
ReplyDeleteI also love books with strong heroes who are worthy of the heroine in the book. I agree we writers pull traits for our heroes from the men we admire in life. For me, the man I admire most is my dear husband.
Victoria--
Thanks for stopping in, Victoria. Yes, I think we marry our husbands because they do have qualities that we love in heroes. I know my husband does!
DeleteInteresting post - one that started me thinking. What makes me fall in love with a hero? Lots of things. I've swooned over many different types of fictional men. In real life, what's the one thing a guy's gotta have? A sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteYes, the perfect an really should have a sense of humor! Great quality to throw in the discussion. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAah, Ari. I fell in love with him, too. I didn't see the movie until years after I read the book. Like you, I had a different image in my mind other than Paul Newman. I really like my heroes. Most of them are patterned after my hubby who is the strong silent type. He's a tough guy with a gentle soul. My heroes are the type of men who could take down a gang of outlaws without blinking an eye, then sing a lullaby to his baby daughter. Great post, Fran. I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteI'm secretly in love (along with half the female population, I'm sure) with Roarke, the hero of JD Robb's In Death series. The man has "the music of Ireland" in his voice, a bod of roped muscles, raven-black hair that falls to his shoulders, and he loves his Eve with so much passion. Their interludes make a reader want to sigh, cry, or just melt into the pages.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Susan Johnson's Native American (Crow) hero, Jon Hazard Black. His son, Trey, was also quite a chip off the old block, too. These from her oldie but goody Blaze series.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Agree with what you say! Writing romance does give us a chance to fall in love again and again and without all the humdrum stuff that usually goes with it. Fun to think of the heroes we've fallen in love with that aren't of our own imagination. And interesting to speculate what it is about them that makes us love them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we must fall in love with our heroes as we create them. For my curreny WIP, my hero was inspired from a video I saw on Facebook. I not only remember his kind, caring face but the sound of his voice while he was signing. I think I fell in love with him right then and there!
ReplyDelete