I’m sure Chris wanted to swat Detective Chuck Hollis with her stethoscope and he deserved what she DID do to him.Ahhh! Alpha males may be a cliched term, but what it does to my brain, ooh lala! Sexy, funny, strong and smart. To me the alpha male is sexy in his confidence. Funny is an unexpected talent. He has a natural almost dry wit that should could with a spew warning. Strong, most definitely. Smart? Wicked smart, hee hee!
Now, as for realistic? I think most men I know have the alpha male traits. The guys who work here on the horse farm, for example are also firemen and they are always quick with a smile, a joke, some gossip, yes, men gossip more than we do, and these boys are downright sexy to boot. And, one of them bought my second western novel to give to his new girlfriend. He said he wanted to do something different, to let her know that he was a cut above. Sadly, they broke up, but he loves the book and bought the first western. And now he is building twelve new horse stalls here and giving them western town false fronts, like my town of Sweetwater. We have the Globe Salloon, Butterfield Stage Co., bathhouse, mercantile, and you can even put your horse in jail.
I digress…the males in my novels are a happy mix of all sorts of manly attributes, yet mostly the strong and silent type. Cole from IF YOU ONLY KNEW was strong and silent, while Neville in IF YOU ONLY DARE was charismatic and intelligent. Bobby in LOSE MY MIND was strong and silent. Rupert from THE UNSUITABLE SUITOR was almost brooding, but had that dry British wit, and Det. Chuck Hollis…definitely strong and silent. All of my heroes have one thing in common, they have a commanding presence. If they were to walk into the room, you would not be able to keep your eyes off of them. A man with a plan, that is my particular favorite type of hero. Watching how he copes when that plan is blown to pieces…priceless.
And now for stupid heroines. How many times have I been reading along and the heroine who is showing her IQ by counting how many beds she can hop into or throws the guy over for the dumbest reason, almost no reason at all? That book goes sailing across the room. I no longer care what happens to this twit. I count myself lucky for not investing any more time in her silly, sorry, trifling life. I understand that heroines are victims, but to be a victim of your own author is unforgivable. Some of these heroines couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag. I understand that women from eras long ago were not as sophisticated or as savvy as women are today, however, they had to be keenly intelligent just to survive. She doesn’t have to be a rock(et) scientist, but please, for the love of all that is right and just, give that byotch SOME common sense!
I think my heroines are smart enough to find themselves in a world of trouble and intelligent enough to appreciate that look the hero sends her way.
Neville Hilliard was the conniving entrepreneur (saloon and brothel owner) from IF YOU ONLY KNEW. This was Cole and Grace’s story, but Neville stole every scene he was in. I saw it, the reader’s saw it. They almost demanded to know more about Neville and told me he needed his own novel. He was almost too strong to be a secondary character and while writing IYOK, I found I had to rein him in. Then, he and Cole were arguing over the tactics Neville insisted Cole undertake to win Grace’s heart, Cole flung out, “If you’re so smart about women, then why ain’t you married?” And Neville answered, more to himself, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” And as soon as he said those words, I knew we had to explore the meaning behind them. I wondered what Neville would do if he were in Cole’s shoes. So, in IF YOU ONLY DARE, we found out that finding him in a similar predicament, Mr. Know-It-All was a complete wreck. I think he is the funniest hero I have ever written.
I am going to send you the instructions for the Secret Language of the Fan. And I will add a snippet from THE UNSUITABLE SUITOR, illustrating the use of “instant messaging.”
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