What have you read in romance books that made you stop in your tracks?
A physical description that amazed you? Or a personality trait that made you laugh aloud or cringe?
I like the unusual. I think it speaks to the imagination to not have the Ken and Barbie of romance novels.
I love to run my hands through a man's hair. Just love it. But what if I wrote a bald hero? Or one with a limp? Or a man in a wheelchair? Or a heroine with one arm?
Or if my heroine collected coffee beans? And had them in shadowboxes all over her kitchen? Or wore suspenders?
What if my hero was missing a thumb on one hand? Or wore a patch over his eye? Or collected thimbles? Or could sew a dress?
Characters need to be characters. They need to leap off the pages and grab the reader by the heart. By the throat. And keep them enthralled for page after page.
Because that's when the characters live for us. Not merely exist.
And those are the ones I remember.
Grins*
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5 comments:
I recently read a novella by Sherrilyn Kenyon called Dragonswan where the big alpha hero, who was half dragon, also collected pez dispensers. I kept thinking, how weird to write that this big, hard tough guy who can transform into a fearsome dragon, would collect rare and antique pez dispensers.
I loved it. It's was a great wee thing, and I remember that fact over most of the plot.
But I also remember readin a story, don't remember who by or what the story was about but I do remember the hero had an unusally close relationship with his cat. All the other characters commented on it, and I remember it annoyed me because he was too alpha to be a cat lover (ok that'll earn me a few cat lover hate emails) and he was all "Whatever kitty wants, kitty gets".
So sometimes they work, and other times they creep a reader out.
Too funny about the alpha hero/dragon who collected Pez dispensers! I love it!!! But, yeah, the cat one is kinda creepy for some reason.
I was going to write a post about something similar but then realized I should do something for mother's day.
I had a heroine who was a vampire and collected cheesy vampire memorabilia.
In the new Sookie Stackhouse book, the heroine's new boyfriend is bald...and a weretiger.
I love characters that are different and that grab me by my heart. Actually, as for the hero in the wheelchair, I've read Brenda Novak's STRANGER IN TOWN where the heroine causes an accident that puts the hero in the wheelchair. A bit difficult theme, but Brenda handled it beautifully!
Characters need to be CHARACTERS - so true! Who are the most memorable people in our lives? The ones who stand out because they're strange, quirky, dress differently, act differently, etc.
I've hardly ever been to a blog before. This is the third one I've visited this weekend. I suppose I'll end up doing my own at some point.
Thanks for the good tips.
Ronda Del Boccio
award-winning author www.RelaxWithRonda.com
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