Several times a year, I receive an e-mail about romancing women versus men. To woo a woman you have to do a long grocery list of things including give flowers and chocolates. For men, you merely need to show up naked and bring food. Keep this in mind when writing from the male point of view.Men don’t know a chignon from Cheyenne. The heroine’s hair is pulled back in his view. What holds it there is of no consequence unless he intends to let her hair loose. And they like doing that.

Except if they’re an interior decorator, mauve, puce or dusty pink are all the same color so don’t bother asking. If your hero is sensitive he may try to bluff his way through, but he won’t do it more than once and that doesn’t mean he truly sees the difference.

Women have conversations with lots of details. Most men can convey a world of information to another male in monosyllables. For instance:

            “Chet.”

            “George.”

            “Did you eat?”

            “Nope.”

            “Let’s go.”

That was two men making dinner plans. Space constraints prohibit me from writing a similar conversation between two women.

Most men will think you look good in that dress. They’ll also think you look good out of that dress so while you’re still agonizing over whether or not it makes you look fat, they have you naked. And any alpha hero worth his salt cannot fathom a situation where the word “fat” and “butt” could ever be used in the same sentence.

Men have an innate need to fix things. Now, I don’t mean the kitchen sink necessarily. If you go to a guy with a problem, he wants to find a solution. This is great for writing romance for two reasons. First, he can be a hero for finding the solution. Second, it can cause conflict when the heroine doesn’t want or like the solution. And we all know conflict in our writing is good.

If it’s true today, it’s true forever. For example, if my husband meets you and you have purple hair, regardless if it is Halloween, forevermore if he describes you, your hair will be purple. This is especially true of scientists and engineers. For them life is black and white. You are either hungry or not, there are no gradations.

If a naked woman is in the room, a man will look. That in no way makes him love you any less, but in a romance, you can use that to your advantage. Your heroine could be naked and the hero is trying his darndest not to look. I wouldn’t advise a scenario where a female other than the heroine is naked. 

Men are territorial. Only constraints of society and civilization stop them from peeing on you every time they leave your presence. They have engagement rings to do the same job. That’s why when our heroine is in trouble the hero can’t help but try and save her even if she is perfectly capable of saving herself.  Another excellent source of conflict.

Now obviously if all your heroine had to do was show up naked and bring food then your book’s going to be pretty short. Don’t make your male character be two-dimensional, but on the other hand don’t give him too much depth either.

Question of the Day:

Do you like your heroes to be territorial?  Why or why not?  And is there a line on what’s TOO territorial?

Chris Redding wanted to be a writer since she was ten years old.  She belongs to Romance Writers of America, Kiss of Death, and New Jersey Romance Writers.  Corpse Whisperer came out in 2007. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, a hound dog, a British cat
and a black spotted rat. When she isn’t writing, she works two part time jobs, both where she is surrounded by men!

The other day I was out with some friends when I was cornered and asked about heroes. They wanted to know what my ideal hero was, since I’ve now written quite a few sexy men. Should have been easy to answer, right?Wrong.

I kept trying to put them off by saying it depended on what my character wanted, needed, wished for, etc., but they wouldn’t accept that. They wanted to know what I wanted in a hero. To be honest, I just couldn’t answer it.

I know a lot of authors write sexy romances and imagine themselves in the heroine’s shoes. We all know what kind of man we want to be with, even if it’s just in fantasy, right?

I love a good man. Regardless of what type of hero he is, what type of man he is. Men in real life are complex, despite all the “simple-minded male” jokes that are out there. They can be infuriating, sexy, brooding, funny, intelligent, despicable, rude, loving, caring. I could go on for hours about what makes up different men. There are so many different facets that you can add to your characters that no two men in your books should ever be the same. They have different interests, they have favorite sayings, favorite curses, favorite “positions”. Even twin brothers can be vastly different from each other, even with all their similarities.

I think there’s something so innately great about a guy who doesn’t fit a stereotype. I’ve written about Alpha males, dominant vampires, infuriatingly close-mouthed werewolves. I’ve also written submissive males, cute, bouncy catmen, unsure virgins, shy and needy cat shifters. I’ve even combined traits and written men that almost defy description. I’ve been told I have quite the imagination and I think that’s the highest compliment a writer can receive.

When most people think of heroes in Romance books, they think about what makes a man attractive to the heroine. But, what if you don’t follow the conventional boy-meets-girl romance? In the majority of my stories I often write about two or more men. It’s the benefit of writing solid ménage and gay fantasies. A lot of my books don’t even have a heroine. Some people may wonder why I focus so much on men. My question is “why not?”

When I write a story, I don’t imagine myself in the hot-seat, so to speak. I’m the observer who gets to nudge two people into a situation and sit back and watch what happens. Taking two men and finding out how they fit together romantically can be great fun. It can be sexy and enlightening. It can be uncomfortable, and that’s okay too.

We all write for different reasons. I write because I want to entertain, but I also want to explore. Getting to explore different heroes, finding out how they react to different circumstances, can be very satisfying. My men may be unconventional, and they may not fit the typical mold of the Romance Genre Hero, but I’m fine with that. I like the idea that I can be different, explore new ideas without having to fit in a particular box.

I’m able to push the envelope and create worlds that aren’t typical because I have the freedom of being electronically published. It may be a niche market, but it’s one that fits me well at the moment. Epublishers don’t have the same restrictions that are present in the New York markets. They are able to try new themes and see if they work almost immediately.

That freedom lets me experiment with my heroes. They may be men that I would never in a million years want to be with. I may give them quirks that bother me, just to see what that will do to their love interest. In the end, it isn’t about me. It doesn’t matter if I fall head over heels in love with them by the end of the book. Of course, I always end up falling in love with them anyway, which can be very revealing for myself as an author.

People are multifaceted, and writing characters that are intricate and involved makes for a more interesting book. As long as people keep reading my novella’s, and continue to love my men, I’ll keep on writing about my unconventional heroes.

Question of the Day:

What is the most appealing “unconventional hero” you’ve encountered in a romance?

Jade Buchanan’s first book, The Felidae 1: Laithe’s Pride, was released in January of 2007 at Changeling Press. Signed by four separate epublishers, Jade’s 15^th novella will release in April. For more information, visit her at http://www.jadebuchananbooks.com/

Writing about one’s favorite hero in romance literature is like asking for a favorite color.  There are so many choices, variations, and hues.  How could a person decide from among them?

After some contemplation, I’ve come up with a beloved hero from my recent readings.

Author Anna Campbell, who is a fellow Bandida with me and nineteen other 2006 Golden Heart finalists, writes Regency noir.  Her second novel, UNTOUCHED (currently available and published by Avon), presents the tortured, lonely Matthew Lansdowne, Marquess of Sheene.

Matthew is a man falsely imprisoned by his conniving uncle, who tortures the Marquess to keep him cowed, claiming he is mad.  To provide amusement for his charge, Lord John kidnaps a woman and confines her in the prison estate with the hero.  But Grace Paget is no common trollop; she’s an impoverished widow mistaken for a prostitute.

At first Matthew is a Lost Soul.  Having been incarcerated from the age of fourteen, he’s a man who’s never known a woman, a virgin having no experience with the frailer sex.  A sensitive, creative man, he tends to his hybrid roses in the courtyard garden, developing new floral strains and writing detailed horticultural accounts.  

Matthew is a loner less by choice than by circumstances.  Tormented by the heinous actions of his uncle, he resigns himself to living out the remainder of his life in seclusion and loneliness.

Until Grace Paget arrives.

Initially, when Grace is thrust into his life, he wants nothing to do with her.  If she’d been an ordinary whore, he’d have found no romantic interest in her, but she is the woman of his youthful dreams and fantasies, and he finds himself unwillingly drawn to her.  As a Lost Soul himself, he understands her terror and sympathizes with her fear. 

But Matthew is also a Warrior.  Contradicting his noble nature, he refuses to submit to his uncle’s machinations and tells Grace, “But I am not a man of honor . . . I am just a poor helpless lunatic.”  However, her helplessness brings out the champion in him.  He can no more abandon her than he can escape again, knowing his defection puts those he loves at risk. 

He refuses to succumb to his desire to make Grace his own and clings to his humanity even as he’s driven by his passion for her.  How much easier to take her and ease his own pain!  But he refuses to compromise her honor.  Eventually he makes the greatest sacrifice of all and plots to free the young widow from sharing the hell of his own bondage.  He acknowledges his feelings to himself:  “Tonight’s joy would always be a thread of bright gold woven through his life’s ragged fabric.  He’d passed through a transforming fire.”

Even imprisoned and at the mercy of cruel, merciless guards, Matthew finds a way to protect Grace.  Both Warrior and Lost Soul, he finds his way to redemption and emancipation through his love for Grace.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What do you think the keys are to crafting a complex hero such at Matthew Lansdowne?

Jo Robertson, a retired school teacher and the author of three unpublished romantic suspense novels, is currently working on an early 1900’s historical.  She’s a founding member of Romance Bandits  and also a member of RWA and her local chapter, Sacramento Valley Rose.