An Afternoon With Your Favorite Hero/Heroine

Happy Tuesday All,

Before I get into today's post...don't forget...today is Kerrelyn Sparks' release of Wanted: Undead Or Alive and her launch party (which I talked about in yesterday's post).

They're the stars of novels. They're the ones who you wonder "What will happen to them next?" Oftentimes they're the "good guys", although sometimes there's shades of gray.

We're talking heroes and heroines!

Everything from contemporary genre to paranormal, there are heroes and heroines in pretty much every novel.

Some of my favorite heroes were super-heroes, like Spider-Man and Super-Man...yes, Batman is cool, too.

Some of the ones from the contemporary genres were unlikely heroes, like Simon in Debbie Macomber's The Perfect Christmas.

Prefer a little mystery in your life? Check out Theodosia in Laura Childs' Tea Shop Mysteries.

As in real life, sometimes a contemporary genre hero is a lawman, like in Christie Craig's Shut Up And Kiss Me.

Then there's the ones that are supernatural. Like angel, Malcom, in Suzanne Selfors' Coffeehouse Angel.

Or, you might take a trip in the YA paranormal and find Jinn (a genie!) from Jackson Pearce's As You Wish. Or while you're in the YA Paranormal section, check on Kylie Galen from C.C. Hunter's Shadowfalls series.

Vampires, you say? Glad you asked...head into General Fiction and look up Syrie James' most romantic, and talented, Michael, in Nocturne. Or you can hunt up Vanda in Kerrelyn Sparks' Forbidden Nights With A Vampire.

The point is, whether you're in general fiction, thriller, mystery, romance, or YA, heroes and heroines exist everywhere. Some of them become like friends, even if they are fiction. They are real to us and to the writers.

So, that brings me to today's question...which hero or heroine of a book you've read would you want to spend the afternoon with?

Have A Tip Top Tuesday!

In Honor Of The Day...

In honor of the fallen real life heroes/heroines of 10 years ago...

Please take a moment of silence to remember and/or pray.

If You Thought Yesterday Was A Hint...

Happy Tuesday Folks,

Oh. My. Gosh. This contest, as I like to say, "rocks my socks". I'm not through putting together details (I'm giving myself and the people involved some space to check up on one part of it). But the prizes that are being donated are gonna be good!

I can't list the prizes (yet), but I'm telling you, those that are donating (and I can't reveal them, yet, either) are really generous beings and they have my most heartfelt gratitude for helping me out in that area.

So far I do know I will be running this contest 3 days--giving away something every day, which is fabulous, because then I can have a new winner and really get this party going.

Other than author interviews, (which I got one scheduled for February, and working on scheduling a March one) I've never done anything this big on my blog before. (LOL, unless you want to count the times I posted parodies that I wrote).

So far it looks like I'll run the contest next week--I'll let you know if that changes. (Yes, when I said soon, I meant it).

Gather your friends, gather all readers, and writers...this is gonna be big. Maybe a little cheesy (because I like cheesy--and besides we have to have a little fluff in our lives) but it's also a really awesome thing.

This week will be preparation week. I hope to run this contest next week.

But be sure to check back here daily for updates and news.

Oh and while you're at it...

Since yesterday was about heroes...let's talk heroines. What makes a good heroine in your eyes? Do you have a favorite, and if so, who?

Have A Terrific Tuesday!

Coffee, Directions, & The Alpha Male

Happy Thursday All,

Tomorrow is the eve before the Conference (sounds like a Christmas book title, huh?) Which is pretty exciting...although nothing penetrates the haze of sleepiness until the caffeine breaks through and takes affect.

Okay, I know not all writers are coffee drinkers, but the majority I've met/know are (on some level). Some of us will admit to not being at our best before that first cup of java hits our system.

Sure, we might have 5 ideas jumping around in our heads from some great dream we had or something that's been bugging us (see the Gnat entry from a few days ago for info on that) but things aren't going to fall into place if we're bleary eyed from lack of caffeine.

The good news is the story gnat is finally starting to stick around long enough for me to get a picture of what's been poking around in my imagination (whether a good idea or not, it's still something I want to play with and see what happens and see if it is a workable story idea).

Can you imagine a decaffeinated author?

The heroine might end up walking into a tree and staying in a coma for the rest of her life.

Or the hero might actually stop for directions, which is very un-alpha male of him--if you go with stereotypes anyway. 

But let's imagine the hero asking for directions whether it's alpha male of him or not:

Would we like Duncan MacLeod from Highlander quite so much if he was asking for directions all the time instead of beating the crap out of the bad guy?

Or what about Mr. Darcy? He never asked for directions. He would've been the one giving directions.

I imagine, however, if we female authors are driving around with our alpha males lost for eternity, we will, in fact, push said alpha males to stop for directions. Either that, or demand he stops the car and go in and ask for a map ourselves.

But I can't see any alpha males in our stories stopping for a map or directions. They're too busy kicking butt and winning the girl. Although, emotionally, some of them might need an atlas--except that wouldn't make the story half so engrossing, would it? 

You tell me :-)

Have A Thoughtful Thursday!