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
