TAMMIE KING from NIGHT OWL ROMANCE

Look who is visiting us today! Tammie King from Night Owl Romance has stopped by to give us her thoughts on heroes from a reviewer's perspective. Join us in a discussion about heroes and how they influence your choices in what you read. And don't forget to go to Night Owl to find loads more stuff- reviews, contests, everything about romance!


TAMMIE SAYS:

Hi Delle and readers :o) - Waving,

You have a wonderful place and a very interesting blog theme.

Thanks for inviting me here to discuss heroes from a reviewer’s perspective.

To be able to do that please join me as I discuss how I became a reviewer and what being a reviewer means.

I’m Tammie King, owner of Night Owl Romance and a romance reader since the 9^th grade. Now that I’m in my thirties I can say I’ve read quite a few romances and in probably almost every genre. I’ve also read books as both a reader and a reviewer. I would say for my first 10 to 12 or so years I was a voracious reader. I could read a book so quick and be onto another…back when time just seemed to be for the taking. Now that I’m running a review site, volunteering as a webmistress for my local RWA, working as a web designer plus taking care of a hubby. My reading time has diminished. :o) – So, from me to you – Treasure every book and every moment you have to read. Times changes and before you know it your time just becomes small chunks.

Around 5 years ago I started Night Owl Romance from my house. It’s still stationed in my house, but now we have expanded to having well over 30 reviewers. So, for me becoming a reviewer was just part of expanding my site. At first the site was just my way of telling other readers about my love of books and what were my overall favs. So, you can say I’m a self-made reviewer.

Every reviewer’s perspectives are different and it’s my belief that every reviewer is just a reader who wants to spread the word about books. Most of us just have a passion for books. Some reviewers specialize just in one genre or sub-genre and others who will read what’s put in front of them. In my case I would say I’m pretty specialized. I love romance, but normally go through genre cycles. I’ll read lots of historicals then be onto paranormals and then onto fantasies. The system is always revolving. So, I often will buy a book to read at a later point.

I like my heroes to be strong…don’t put a wimpy one in front of me. So, when I read as a reviewer my view on heroes will show up in my work. If it’s a wimpy hero you will probably hear about it…and not in a positive way. On another note the hero needs to also have respect and be helpful. If I read about a hero who doesn’t listen to the heroine that can be annoying and I’ll have no respect for him unless the author is using this as a trait to redeem him. Most readers want to have a hero who respects the heroine and takes the time to spend with her. One of my favorite heroes is Alec from Julie Garwood’s The Bride. He is a very strong highland laird, but he does care about his wife even though they are married in an arranged marriage. Julie Garwood also brings humor into her characters and that makes them very human. I think a hero should be strong, but know how to smile and laugh during the right points. Those are qualities I find make me like a hero.

A review is just a person’s thoughts on a book. With over 35 reviewers at Night Owl Romance it’s quite common to find one reviewer who just loved a book and another who did not. Luckily there are enough books and authors out there for each reader and reviewer to find out what she is really into and what style she likes. Some readers like their heroes to be all flowery, I do not. When reading reviews it’s a good idea to get to know what books a reviewer likes and doesn’t like. It’s quite possible to find a reviewer you don’t agree with at all. Finding a reviewer or reviewers to follow is just like creating any relationship in life. You have to find the right match. If you do that you will get the right recommendations for what you like. Your heroes will be the types that you are looking for and you will feel each dollar you spend was worth the time.

My first romance novel was Gypsy King by Kat Martin. It’s been so long since I read that book that I can’t remember the hero, heroine or the plot. I can tell you with that one book I became addicted to the romance novel. The ladies at my local bookshop became my friends. They recommended books to me and I started pre-ordering books. I wasn’t shy about reading them out in the public. I read them in every class at my local high school. I didn’t care what anyone thought. I would say I’m my shy of doing that now that I was then. I was truly addicted and didn’t care who knew. I had found something to love and from there I even became a romance reader recruiter. Soon I had my best friend reading. May she be smiling down on us all from heaven (sad and wistful smile). Then I converted my sister…she might have been a bit young but she too became a voracious reader and to this day we exchange books and author information. If you attend the Rose City Romance Writers Readers Luncheon you probably know her as the girl who goes home with many baskets. Sounds a bit like an Indian name LOL.

Overall there’re thousands of heroes out there. You have to find the right ones for you. What do you like in a man? What turns you off? These two questions will determine if you love or loathe a hero. Finding your perfect hero is like joining the quest to find the perfect husband. You are lucky if you find him.

You can find me often on the Night Owl Romance website - http://www.nightowlromanc.com

We recommend books, do contests and bring readers and authors together.

Tammie King
Night Owl Romance
Owner
http://www.nightowlromance.com

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VILLAINS! DELICIOUS VILLAINS!

Villains are so under-rated! Oh, sure, we need the hero and he has to be the central male focus of any romance. We adore our heroes. But think about it- just how heroic is the hero without the villain?

Way back in the Dark Ages in Senior English class, Miss Neal taught us that every novel must have one of a very few basic plots. Man versus Man, Man vs. God, Man vs. Society, Man vs. the Elements, Man vs. Himself. We were sure there had to be some stories that didn't fit her neat, simplistic divisions. We jumped immediately on Man vs. Woman but she told us that was included in the Man vs. Man type. She'd taught this class a few times before (like about 25 years), so she might have herd that one before. She did agree, God vs. the Elements might be a possibility, but since God and Nature were in accord, there was no conflict, and therefore no story.

Essentially, in Miss Neal's mind, anyone/thing on the opposite side from the protagonist was the antagonist, the villain, and the villain needed to be a strong match for the protagonist. "Never write a stupid villain," she told us, "because your hero doesn't have to show his strength, his worth, to win."

Conflict is the nature of fiction, and fabulous villains make for great conflict. In some stories, the villain's story overwhelms the hero's story.

In 3:10 to Yuma, which starred Russell Crowe as the villain and incidentally Christian Bale as the hero, the hero does win, by losing- his life. His son wins by standing up to the villain. And the villain wins, yet loses, because he escapes, having used the hero and his son to the fullest of his supremely manipulative ability, yet he can't change. He is broken beyond repair, and thus can never have what he truly wanted in life. And Wade's story is so compelling, it's hard to even remember the hero.

Phantom of the Opera, starring Gerard Butler in a musical re-make of a Nineteenth Century novel by Gaston Leroux, is another example of a villain taking over the story. Any similar character in a modern news story would be considered pathetic, and evil, living for vengeance. Sympathy? Little or none. But when you see him through the heroine's eyes, he really jerks your heartstrings. The hero, played by Patrick Wilson, with a =character deliberately written to be weak- reactive instead of proactive, doesn't stand a chance against the phantom.

In both of these examples, the villains showed sympathetic glimpses into their true character through their actions, so bit by bit the viewer began to understand how they became what they did. We saw their deep wounds, and what they had to do, become, to survive. And despite their villainy, we began to care and feel that tiny spark of hope grow, that they might overcome their evil. That's what kept us glued to our seats, not the heroes, no matter how heroic they were.

You can't get away with this very often in a romance. Because the romance has to be central to the story, the hero must be the strongest male. Often romance writers solve their problem by creating villains with no redeeming qualities. Or they make them cardboard, weak, almost not there. Mary Jo Putney got away with it, and in a sequel, The Rake and the Reformer, later enlarged to become The Rake, produced the lovable, awful rake, Reggie, the alcoholic who turned his life around to make one of the best heroes ever written. But in reality, he only had a few sympathetic moment at the end of the story, when he became gracious and accepted defeat, "letting" the hero win the heroine. Mary Jo said it was that unusual twist that brought to her the glimpse of Reggie as an eventual hero.

Now, sorry, I'm having trouble thinking of any other examples. But Mary Jo helped me out with this comment:

"Don't we all love our villains if they're redeemable? Another great example of the redeemable rake-Patricia Veryan. The Dedicated Villain is the sixth of her Georgian/Jacobite series, and it took that many books to redeem the villain/hero. Each book, he showed something a little bit better in his character. (At the beginning, the most that could be said is that Roly liked his horse. )"

That gets me to thinking- I do believe I have been influenced by some fine villain-writers. I didn't succeed as well as I'd hoped in Lady Valiant. The minute the hero's father, the duke, became really visible through his motivation, he stepped from flat, everyday nasty guy to a deeply wounded man with a mission he was desperate to fulfill. He became so strong, he completely took over the book. My hero and heroine became mere pawns in his hands. It took me a full year to tame the guy down and get him to let go of my story. And he's still too strong, for some people. But I'm not sorry I wrote him the way I did, and I learned a lot from him. Years later, he still niggles around in my brain, demanding to know when I'm going to give him center stage.

I put what he taught me in Sins of the Heart. Davy Polruhan is the hero's adversary. He's very charismatic, and a good man, not evil, but his good intentions cause harm. He's one of those people on whom God's sun seems always to have shone. He's lived a life in which everything has been all but perfect. And that's what's wrong with him. He's so used to having things go his way, and he's never had to deal with adversity, so he lacks the skills. He just takes it for granted that someday the heroine will marry him. She doesn't. She falls in love with the very kind of guy Davy dislikes most, a d..... nob. And suddenly there's blackness in his heart he never knew he could have.

So Davy got to be himself in that story, but there's still so much left for him that he needs his own. That will be Strangers in the Night. When it's finally done. And he will be his own villain. Because he's so good at it.

IN SEARCH OF A HERO

Shirley Karr, author of several Avon historicals including CONFESSIONS OF A VISCOUNT, share a lot of common interests with me. We both love Regencies and love to write them. We have this thing for kids, little and big. And we share a hero, one who is not just a Hollywood babe magnet, but a wonderful actor and in his personal life, a man to be admired.


SHIRLEY SAYS:

We've all heard of heroes who are larger than life, whether in TV, movies, or books. How about a living hero who seems to have walked off the pages of your favorite romance novel? Gather 'round and I shall tell you his tale. (An abbreviated version, to be sure, since this is a blog not a biography.)

Once upon a time, there was a boy in Kentucky. The youngest of four, he was close to his Cherokee grandfather. Soon after PawPaw's death, when the boy was seven, Dad's job required relocating to another state. The family moved frequently, down the street, across town, or even to motels. He always felt like an outsider. His parents' marriage crumbled and they divorced. He escaped the chaos at home by teaching himself to play guitar and joined a rock band. At 16 he dropped out of school. The band played better gigs and opened for touring rock bands. At 20, he married the drummer's sister, a lass five years his senior.

Let's go to LA and get a record contract, the band decided, and off they went, to the other side of the continent, away from family. But a lot of other bands had the same idea. Competition was stiff. Gigs were few and paid poorly. Our guy took a telemarketing job he hated, selling pens. He'd amuse himself on sales calls by adopting strange accents.

His marriage collapsed under the stress, though they stayed friends. His ex-wife got a job as a makeup artist in Hollywood and introduced him to some of her new friends, including an actor named Nic. The trio often hung out. One night over beers, Nic told our guy he should try acting – he had the look producers want. Our guy had never acted, other than the funny voices on the phone, but by now the band had broken up and he still hated selling pens. Nic arranged a meeting with his agent.

The agent sent him on an audition. The director wasn't going to hire someone without experience, but it was a movie for teens and his teen daughter said he was "dreamy." He was hired. Things were looking up in his personal life too, with a new girlfriend.

He landed a few other movie roles and TV guest appearances but nothing major happened until a new TV series wanted him. Filming was in Canada, thousands of miles from his girlfriend and family. He turned down the role but eventually they persuaded him to join the cast.

The show was a smash hit. Teen girls screamed for him and overflowed shopping malls when the cast made publicity appearances. Suddenly this boy from Kentucky couldn't walk into a restaurant without people staring or asking for his autograph. Paparazzi followed his every move, documented his personal life. He lived in hotels. He felt different, like an outsider. A freak.

The show's marketing department capitalized on his popularity. Posters, billboards, lunchboxes, all adorned with his face. He hated it. He wanted out, but the successful show wouldn't cancel his contract and his own moral code wouldn't let him break it.


Frustrated, he self-medicated with drugs and alcohol and lived on caffeine and nicotine. One night he was arrested after taking out his frustration on his hotel room. As he was escorted out in handcuffs, paparazzi documenting every grimace, he realized he'd become a Hollywood cliché.

He had an epiphany.

He still hated the marketing machine and felt creatively stifled by the show. But he was done with self-medicating. He was not going to be a Hollywood bad boy. During summer hiatus he made a movie that mocked his heartthrob image. The girls who'd flocked to shopping malls stayed home from the theaters in droves.

He caught a break when the show's producers let him out of the last year of his contract. His conscience clear, he sought creatively challenging roles. An up and coming director, whose work our guy admired, was putting together a new movie whose main character was odd, an outsider. A freak. Our guy wanted this role badly enough to wear black leather from neck to toe while filming in the Florida summer without complaining, even after he passed out from heat exhaustion.

The movie was only moderately successful but it enabled him to get other roles. He chose them based on criteria that did not include box office potential. "I made a decision to do only movies I wanted to do and to play only characters I wanted to play. I thought it was important to have integrity," he said. Some movies did so-so, some tanked. He earned a reputation as a guy who made odd movies for directors with unpronounceable names. Some critics called him box office poison.

He wasn't earning huge bucks per picture but he enjoyed his work. He strove to improve his craft, to become the character. His famous face that once adorned lunchboxes and posters now was often covered in heavy makeup and obscured by wigs. One director described him as "a character actor in a leading man's body."

His personal life was still tabloid fodder. He entered long-term relationships, had four well-documented engagements. But his girlfriends were actresses and models, stalked by the paparazzi as much as he was, and each relationship ended shy of the altar.

While filming in Europe, he met someone different. A popular singer, Vanessa had shot to stardom in France as a teen. She knew what it was like to live in a fishbowl. They played music together. They soon became a devoted couple.

He teamed up again with the director who'd put him in leather, and their third project together broke the $100 million mark. Box office success at last was nice but came a distant second to the joy of becoming a father. Vanessa gave birth to their daughter six months before the movie's premiere. A son followed two years later. "You can't imagine the degree of joy and love that's available until you have a kid," he said. "It brings you into the person that you hoped you could be."

He had his pick of movie roles and was now considered an asset, not a liability, though still "quirky." When his daughter was a couple years old, he met with the head of a studio to express interest in voicing a cartoon character, to make a movie his daughter could watch. The studio had other ideas. "We're going to do a pirate movie." "With swords?" "Yes." "I'm in," our hero said.

The studio envisioned a swashbuckler like Douglas Fairbanks but our guy thought pirates were the rock stars of their day and looked more like Keith Richards. The studio suits got nervous. What's with the eyeliner, the beads, the slurred speech? Is he drunk? Is he gay? The director convinced the suits to let our guy play the role his way. The movie shattered box office records around the world. So did its two sequels.

Success, by any standard.

With Vanessa and their two kids, making the movies he wants to make, Johnny Depp is living happily-ever-after. He spent years looking for his one true love. He's a devoted father and partner. He overcame many obstacles, including his own self-destructive tendencies. Our guy won the girl *and* the job of his dreams and carved out success on his own terms. Isn't that what romance novel heroes do?

Why is this one of my all-time favorite pictures of JD? He's walking through an airport, his family just off-camera, on his way to resume filming the third Pirates movie. Take a closer look: He's carrying his toddler son's jacket and toy, and look, there in his pocket, is a back-up toy. All together now: Awww.

Whether playing a libertine, a corrupt CIA agent, a chocolatier or a louche pirate, he continues to be different in every role. That was Depp? Yup. He inspires me to not give in, to write the kinds of books I want to write. Success will come, or not, but if I have integrity it will be on my terms.

Delle asked why I cast Johnny as the hero in my second novel, and again in my current manuscript. Come to think of it, even the current hero's uncle bears a resemblance to JD. But to borrow from Paul Harvey, now that you know the rest of his story, is it any wonder?

Here's the Scoop:

Louisa Cornell is the winner of Colleen Gleason's free book. Louisa, you may pick any one of Colleen's Gardella Vampire series. Email Delle.

MJ Frederick's HOT SHOT has won the EPPIES! This is a very prestigious contest for published ebooks, and the book really deserves it! MJ was our guest a few weeks ago, talking about what makes hot shots so hot. HOT SHOT is available on Amazon:

And my book video for APHRODITE'S BREW won Book Trailer of the Month here: http://daniellethorne.jimdo.com/book_trailers.php

Other news:
Remember the question we all asked Colleen? Would her "other hero" get his own story? Well, I found out. The answer is in the book. Sort of... No spoiler here- I won't tell because... The book is a must-read!

update on the eyes

Wow, I always forget how long it takes for my eyes to recover from dilating. Whatever it is they do, it takes a lot longer than usual. This time after I got home from the retina specialist, I just gave up and took an all day nap because I couldn't do much of anything.

Anyway, the statement by the retina guy was, "Either it will detach or it won't." So far, so good. And with my eyes, well, at least I know to be really vigilant. And with detaching retinas, usually being proactive is the best way to save one's sight. I'm all for saving my sight. And believe me, with my bizarre eyes, that has been a chore!

So my advice to everyone is, if your eyes start doing weird things, like flashing lights that you still see even with your eyes closed, or strings of spots that look like teeny black beads on a string, but moving around, or if the tops of letters shear off, or straight lines stop being straight-- go check it out! For most of these things, the sooner you act, the more of your sight you can save.

Better yet, have great eyes to begin with.

Leetle Bit of a Problem

You all go right on and chat. I may be gone tomorrow. If I'm gone all day, I'll be taking care of another retina problem. If I'm back before morning's over, I took care of it already. Or it could be not much of anything. But my surgeon didn't name my left eye Murphy for nothing.

Not to worry. I'm on top of these things. Have fun! Write sexy heroes!

SEXY HEROES by DELILAH MARVELLE

Marvelous Delilah Marvelle has dropped by today to talk about her sexy heroes. I know, Delilah thinks all heroes are sexy. But I think hers are really, really sexy.

DELILAH SAYS:

When the beautiful and always charming Delle asked me to blog about sexy heroes, you better believe that I jumped all over the opportunity. After all, if it weren't for the sexy hero, I would be out of job. I would have no story. No motivation. No reason to live whatsoever. Yes, I was born for theater.

So what defines a sexy hero in my eyes? Truth be told, it is like asking me what chocolate I like best. White, dark or milk (although after a chocolate tasting I went to, which Delle was there for as well, there's much, much more than just that...) And heck, I'll be honest, I like it ALLLLL.

The reality is, however, that everyone's definition of a sexy hero is different. What is sexy to one person isn't necessarily to another. Sadly. Which can bring about quite the dilemma when a gal is actually trying to WRITE about the sexy hero. A hero whom everyone has to read and fall in love with. AND find sexy. Sometimes it seems downright impossible to create such a man. I would sooner find him walking down the street. Heh. But I try.

So here is a simplified list I use when creating a sexy hero:

Intelligent. Check.

Bold. Check.

Stupid. UNcheck. (Got you. Didn't I?)

Passionate in his beliefs. Check.

Passionate about the heroine. Double check.

Compassionate. Check. (Without the sobs, that is)

Honest. Check. (Though not too honest lest you never wear that dress)

Strong. Check.

Good looking. Check. (At least in the eyes of the beholder)

Physically fit. Check. (Because when he's fit, he has muscles. Yay!)

Hair that stays on his head and chest but never the back. CHECK!!!!!!

Tall. Yes, please. (Though not TOO tall...)

Well endowed. *TRIPLE* check. (I'm superficial)

Nice, tight rear. Check. (After all, one must complement the front)

Horny and kinky. (Uh...you decide whether this is good or bad)

Truth be told, I could go on and on. But in the end, I think that the sexy hero simply cannot be limited in his sexiness. Or something like that...

So. What is your definition of a sexy hero? And remember, it's quite all right to be superficial.