Mini-Muse Monday-Heroes. Hunks or Honeys?
I had the dubious pleasure of speaking to two high school classes this last week about romance novels and what being an author entails. I have been asked to come back for four more presentations. The curriculum the students had been provided pertaining to romance novels was archaic and inaccurate. I told them the best use of those papers might be in the restroom the next time they had a need.
Really. I did. Even the teachers laughed.
Here’s what the instructional material said about heroes:
The hero should be about ten years older than the heroine and can be foreign or American. He needn’t be handsome in a traditional sense, but he must be strongly masculine. Always tall and well built (not brawny or thick) and usually dark, he looks as terrific in a three-piece suit as he does in sports clothes. His clothes reflect good taste and an affluent life-style. Very successful professionally and financially, he is a man in charge of whatever work he’s engaged in (financier, doctor, publisher, architect, business executive, airline pilot, artist, etc.). His wealth is manifested in his sophistication and experience. His past may be slightly mysterious or shrouded by some painful moment (perhaps with a 60 woman) that he doesn’t want to discuss.
Whatever the circumstance — his wife’s death or divorce are common — it was not his fault. Avoid chronic problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction, or sexual dysfunctions. To others he may appear moody, angry, unpredictable, and explosively passionate, but the heroine eventually comes to realize his warm, tender side. He should be attractive not only as a lover but also as a potential husband and father.
Just the week before, I’d conducted an informal poll on Facebook (Naturally pictures were included to inspire deep intellectual contemplation!) and I asked my readers what type of heroes they most liked. Not unexpectedly, highlanders, pirates, medieval knights, and Regency gentlemen were all very popular.
I’d like to extend that discussion into today’s mini-muse.
There are all sorts of hero descriptions out there: alpha male, chief, charmer, best friend, bad boy, lost soul, warrior, and intellect to name a few, and naturally, heroes can be a combination of these types.
I’d love to know, beyond the general hero stereotypes, what do you love most in a hero?
Humor, compassion, strength, tenderness …? The list is endless.
What is an unredeemable characteristic or quality that is a deal breaker for you?
Humor is a must for me – in literary heroes and real life. And where did those “rules” for a hero come from? I am always amused when romance novels are dissed. Romance is one of life’s and mankind’s few constants. Take it out of a story and what do you have? Just a bunch of sentences that are usually very boring! (And I write nonfiction!) ?
Humor is a must for me too, probably because I have such a wicked sense of humor. It takes me awhile to open up to people I don’t know, but when I do…
Thanks, Collette. Yes, I have a fave type of hero. And a good idea of the kind I DON’T like. But I’m reluctant to describe them because I know many of you not only love, but require the kind of hero I can’t stand. So please, remember my opinion is just that, my opinion.
Basically, my kind of hero is a good guy. Do I expect a knight in shining armor? Yep! Literally if the story takes place in the Middle Ages. Figuratively if it’s set in any other time.
My kind of romance usually revolves around someone who does something extraordinary for love. Who can undertake such a task, overcome such obstacles, make such sacrifices? A hero who’s truly heroic.
Who would never even contemplate accepting this kind of challenge? You guessed it. Arnold Alpha Male, the typical romance hero. Too egocentric. He’s busy being a bitter, angry control freak.
How can he fight for love when he’s so busy fighting against it? Or fighting the heroine when she’s forced on him. That’s the only way these two can get together. These relationships never form naturally.
But they always do for my kind of hero and heroine. They actually love each other. It’s not a power struggle, and it’s certainly not kept together merely by hot sex.
And what about redemption? It’s what the genre revolves around, how the good woman redeems the bad (or at least lost-soul) man. How does that play a part in my kind of hero, in his kind of story?
It doesn’t. To me there’s nothing romantic about redemption. Or heroes who need it. Redemption is a concept that falls under the heading of religion, not relationships. Certainly not love.
My hero doesn’t need redemption. He has other issues going on. And to those who say no redemption, no romance—okay, classify this kind of fiction any way you want. It might be phony romance to you. It’s true romance to me.
I love a redeemed hero!
And don’t worry about offending. We each have our own opinions.
I do like more than one kind of hero but I draw the line at a guy who screams louder than I do when a spider runs across the floor!
I do so enjoy your input, Mary Anne!
I think I’m more a fan of beta heroes than alpha heroes. I do love it when they’re physically and mentally strong, know what they want, ooze confidence and sex appeal – but I also want them to have the brains matching the brawn, to be able to admit mistakes and to really care for the heroine.
So true! I like a smart guy.
When someone asks me which part of a man I think is the sexiest, my answer is simple. His brain! Thanks, Devika.
The hero has to be able to laugh at himself and know his limitations. I do prefer the alpha male, but he has to be able to step back when the heroine can handle it on her own. Talk, dark and handsome I can take or leave. (I do prefer tall though, I’m 5’9) Physical or emotional problems they can have. He can’t feel sorry for himself unless it’s part of the story with him working through it and accepting it. I dislike the hero’s who do the push/pull to the heroine constantly. Once is ok, but if he can’t make up his mind, then he’s a weenie to me.
As far as my deal breaker…Rape/sexual abuse. If he’s done it, forget it. I have read a book in the past where the cousin raped the heroine, then the next book was about the cousin and his redemption. I didn’t buy/read it and never read another book by that author.
I’m with you on the rape and abuse. Deal breakers and I can’t come back from that.
To be honest, I love the anti-hero…the guy who doesn’t even know what an asesome hero he is. In my current WIP, the hero is autistic. in another one, my hero is a paraplegic family law attorney. I love the bigger than life heroes, too, That’s why we read romance novels, right? But the everyday true life heroes are my kind of heroes. The ones who are honorable, faithful, and steadfast through the tough times, the ones whose love endures forever…like Noah Calhoun in The Notebook. He’s one of my favorites…just an average guy with faults who loves passionately, deeply, and forever.
Anti-heroes are hugely popular and I think it’s because they are more realistic. Everyone has flaws, right?
lol loved that list–was it from the 80s?
I love alpha males–but ones with a heart. But, they don’t realize they’re in love until they are, and then they are the best ever.
Several authors decided it was part of a Harlequin styles sheet from the early 80s.
I like to have my heroes be individuals–probably having a sense of humor is right up there. My books are not blood and thunder so bare-chested and brawny is not what I want the reader to remember. Compassion, yes; loyalty, yes; a zest for life, yes. Love for the heroine? Over the top.
And that’s the key, Beppie! Love for the heroine.
Hear hear, Beppie!