My Favorite Heroes and Heroines

Thanks to getting smacked with an asthma attack, I missed my first blog date this month.  I would never do that--smack or miss--to a character.  Well, a villainous character, maybe, but not a hero or heroine.

Not the best segue into a blog about characters, but don't leave just yet.  There's more.  Good or bad, there's more. ;)

Most of us can't come close to knowing how many books we've read over our lifetimes, much less remember even half of the characters in them.  But many of us can talk about our favorite book or books and the characters who inhabited the stories.

I'll skip Trixie Belden and move straight on to more "adult" books.  After several years of swimming around in multiple genres, romance a main one, I fell into horror like a lead brick.  Stephen King horror, to be exact.  I won't go into the several characters in The Stand who had what we could call Starring Roles, but what I will say--and continue to do it often--is that SK knows how to write a character.  He knows how to do it so well that, in The Stand, each character gets chapters of his or her own (POV-wise, that is), and by reading only the first sentence or two, the identity of the POV character is clear...without the mention of the character's name.  No, I did not mix up Stu with Larry or anyone else.  They were clearly two different characters throughout the book.  Because of this, I bow down to Stephen King, Master of Characters.

The thing is, characters make a book.  The plot can be magnificent, the dialogue perfect, and the setting heavenly, but without good characters, who cares?

My trip back into romance from horror was ushered in by my oldest and dearest friend.  (We'll call her "G")  G called me on the phone one day, insisting I listen to the first few pages of the book she'd begun to read.  The problem was, she kept laughing, and it was hard to understand what she read to me, but between her giggles, I managed to grasp enough that even I started laughing.  Afterward, I went out and found my own copy of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' It Had to Be You, and I've never regretted it, having read it so many times I've lost count.

The heroine, Phoebe Sommerville, has just learned she's the owner of her father's football team, the Chicago Stars.  She knows nothing about football.  Phoebe has the body of...well, let's just say she has more than enough in the right places.  Voluptuous describes her best.  What Phoebe doesn't have is faith in herself.  She was her father's biggest disappointment, and he spent as little time with her as possible.  Phoebe plays it both soft and tough (and dumb and sexy) on the outside, and tough as leather (and smart, plus a bit frigid) on the inside, but she steers clear of relationships with men...straight men, anyway.  Gay men pose no problem.  It all goes back to an incident in her childhood.

Tough and sexy lady on the outside, scared child on the inside.   My three favorite SEP books all have that kind of heroine.

Ain't She Sweet's Sugar Beth Carey has that same tough exterior, and once upon a time, it was her interior, too.  But she's had some hard times since then, and she's learned a lot and grown up, leaving her with self-esteem that's seen much better days.  She's so tough that she carries through to nearly the end with that tough-gal attitude, thanks to her inner fears.

Blue Bailey, heroine of Natural Born Charmer, is down and out, with a smart mouth that doesn't stop.  But it isn't that outer exterior that wins over readers (and the hero!).  It's her heart, the thing she doesn't say that won this reader.  But Blue has to learn a lot of lessons, especially how to surrender, to get her happy-ever-after.

So there it is.  Tough on the outside, soft on the inside.  The funny thing is, the heroes for these heroines need to be much the same to be able to both keep up with them and keep our interest.  But that's what makes these characters memorable.  That's what makes them real.  As people, we aren't just one type, we're many.  We interact with some people one way, and with other people in another.  As human, we do our best to keep our weaknesses hidden, because if someone were to ever guess...  Well, you get the idea.  And that's the kind of heroines AND heroes I like to read.  I also like humor along with the angst.  Let me wring my hands one minute, then laugh at something the character said or thought the next.

Give me a character with many layers and facets, and you've won me over.  I'll read and re-read the book many times over.  THAT'S a KEEPER. 

Favorite Heroes. 'Nuff said? (Penny Rader)

What are your favorite kinds of characters to write?  To read?

That's our topic this month.  It took me a while to figure out what to write about because there are so many great characters out there.  I finally decided I’d go with books which have specific scenes that pop into my head when I hear the title.

Sometimes a girl just needs a hug. 

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A while back I read Widows of Wichita County by Jodi Thomas. I recently bought another copy because mine disappeared and I want to read it again . The book revolves around five women.  Four of their husbands die in an accident and the fifth is so injured he can’t be identified and can't speak.  My favorite thread of the story begins when Anna, originally from Italy and something of a misfit in Texas who is bullied by her aristocratic brother, confesses to one of the other widows during lunch that what she misses most is something she never really had but hoped might eventually happen with her husband – a hug. Not just a little bitty hug, but a huge hug.  You know, the kind of hug that warms you all the way to your toes.  

Zack, her neighbor to the north, had been at the same restaurant. He tells her he overheard her earlier conversation and that if she ever needs a hug he’d be happy to give her one.  No strings attached.  And that he’ll leave the light on for her.  She slaps him,   A few pages later, during a storm, she sees his light on and makes her way to his home, tearing her clothing on the fence she climbs over to get onto his property…but once he says her name she bolts.  He fixes the fence so if she comes back she’ll be able to do so without ripping her clothes. 

A few days later Zack still occupies Anna’s thoughts.  She still yearns for a hug and he did offer.  Maybe she could have one hug and then get him out of her head. Her brother, who has taken control of her life, hits her.  She runs.  To Zack.  And his hug.  He holds her close while she cries. No questions.  No strings. And an open-ended offer for hugs whenever she needs them.  My heart melted. Sometimes a hug, the warmth and comfort of it, is all a girl needs. Just to be held, without any further expectations.  Or is that just me?

A protector, who even when in pain, does what he knows to be right. 

http://amzn.to/1gMDOVK

Have you read Rachel Lee’s Conard County series?  The third book, Miss Emmaline and the Archangel, is my favorite, though the first one, Exile’s End, runs a close second. It could be because I read Miss Emmaline first.  I was hooked immediately and read the book pretty much in one sitting.  My copy is not on my shelf so I hope my memory doesn't goof this up.  

When the story opens Miss Emmaline Conard, a librarian, leaves work and discovers her car won’t start. Gage happens along.  I don't remember if Gage was able to get her car to run.  I do know Emmaline has a severe phobia that will not allow her to be in a car with a man.  Gage stole my heart when he walks her home.  He has many physical wounds and is nearly always in pain, yet he makes sure she arrives home safe and sound.  If memory serves, it was also freezing outside.  I’m bummed I can’t find my copy because I really want to read this story again.  I shall be doing an online search for this book after I finish this post.

A gentle giant

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In Small Treasures by Maureen Child writing as Kathleen Kane, Samuel is a BIG guy who just encountered Abby in his home, a cabin in the mountains he and Abby each believe they have the right to.  Thank you, Maureen Child, for your permission to share this snippet from early in the story:

“That curl of anger was coming back, and immediately Samuel began the familiar pattern to regain control.  Slowly, calmly, he forced himself to say the alphabet.  He could still hear his mother’s warnings. ‘Samuel,’ she’d say, ‘you’re just too big to allow yourself to get angry like any man.  Why, one hit from a hand the size of yours would kill a man! You just got to keep a tight rein on that temper of yours.’ And so she taught him to say his ABCs whenever his temper started to rise.

“Usually, by the time he reached K or L, he was feeling better.  Tonight he’d had to go all the way to Z.  Twice.  And it wasn't just temper riding him tonight.  It was something else.  Something he couldn't put a name to, but it scared the hell out of him.

“Samuel shook his bushy head. He had to admit, though, that this little woman was really something.  She hadn't been afraid of him at all.

“What was wrong with her, anyway? Didn't she have the sense God gave a beaver?  Didn't she know that everyone was afraid of him?

“Why, the last time a woman was left alone with him, she’d swooned dead away. Frightened just by his size.  And he’d been dressed then.”

How unique is this hero? I’m so glad I found this book again in my stash so I can reread Sam and Abby’s sweet, funny, sexy story.

A gentle giant with a code of honor and who isn't afraid to love another man’s child.

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Thank you, Robyn Carr, for allowing me to share a couple excerpts from Shelter Mountain.  This book is the second of her extraordinarily popular (and rightly so!) Virgin River series. 

A woman with a child comes into Jack’s Bar. Preacher, whose given name is John, can see her fear and suspects she’s been smacked around in spite of her insistence the marks on her face came from a car door.  He convinces Paige to stay the night in a room at the bar and she finally agrees because her child seems to be getting sick.  Here’s what happens next:

“The door was open a crack, like maybe she’d already been down to the kitchen. He could see a glass of orange juice sitting on the bureau inside the door and it pleased him to see that she’d helped herself.  Through the space of an inch, he saw her reflection in the bureau mirror.  Her back faced the mirror and she’d pulled her bulky sweatshirt up over her head and shoulders, trying to get a glimpse of her back and upper arms in the mirror.  She was covered with bruises.  Lots of bruises on her back, one on her shoulder and upper arms.

“Preacher was mesmerized.  For a moment his eyes were locked on those purple splotches. ‘Aw, Jesus,’ he whispered in a breath.

“He quickly backed away from the slit in the door and got up against the wall. It took him a moment to collect himself; he was stricken.  Horrified.  All he could think was, what kind of animal does something like that.  His mouth hung open because he couldn't imagine this. He was a warrior, a trained fighter and he was pretty sure he hadn't done that much damage to a man equal to him in size, in a fair fight.

“Some instinct kicked in that told him he shouldn't let on that he’d seen.  She was already afraid of everything, including him.  But there was also the reality that this wasn’t a woman who’d been smacked.  She’d been pummeled.  He didn't even know the girl yet all he wanted was to kill the son of a bitch who’d done that to her.  After five or eleven months of beatings, then death for the sorry bastard.

“She shouldn't know he was feeling that; it would scare her to death.  He took a few deep breaths, composed himself.  Then he tapped lightly on the door.”

Is Preacher awesome or what?  When I first read this I couldn't wait to see what would happen between the two of them.  I knew he’d do whatever it took to keep Paige safe and his gentleness would help her heal and discover a powerful, enduring love.

Want to see Preacher with Paige’s son a scene or two later?  Preacher’s making cookies and sharing them with Christopher, a little boy who has known great fear.

“They communed in silence for a while – Preacher, Chris, the three-legged bear.  When Preacher had all little balls rolled, he began mashing them with his fork, perfect lines left, then right.

“What’s that yer doing?” Christopher asked him.

“’Making cookies.  First you make the dough, then you roll the balls, then you smash with the fork, nice and easy.  Then they go in the oven.’  He peered at Chris from under the heavy brows. ‘I bet you could do this part. If you were careful and went nice and slow.’

“’I could.’

“’You’d have to come around here, let me lift you up.’

“’Kay,’ he said, putting his bear on the counter, getting off his stool and coming to Preacher.

“Preacher lifted him up to sit on the edge of the counter.  He helped him hold the fork and showed him how to press down. His first solo attempt was a little messy, so Preacher helped him again.  Then he did it pretty well.  Preacher let him finish the tray, then put it in the oven.

“’John?’ the boy asked.  ‘How many of them we gotta do?’

“Preacher smiled. ‘Tell you what, pardner.  We’ll do as many as you want,’ he said.

“Christopher smiled. ’Kay,’ he said.”

My insides went all warm and gooey as I read this scene.  I knew the little boy would overcome his fears, too, and I looked forward to Chris finding a place all his own in Preacher’s heart.

~~

Do you have scenes that linger in your mind, where you knew immediately the hero was going to be something special, a true keeper?  What are your favorite kind of characters to read and/or write about?

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Oh, do you mind a P.S.?

 I forgot to mention one of my all-time fave heroes: Roarke from J.D. Robb’s In Death series.  Gorgeous.  Brilliant. Oh-so-Irish. If I met him in person I’d probably hyperventilate and pass out.  Since I've taken up so much of your time I’ll share just one of his endearing qualities: He always carries a button from Eve’s coat.  He’s done so since book one, Naked in Death, and continues to do so 30+ books later.  Big sigh.  The newest book in the series, Concealed in Death, is patiently waiting for this weekend when I have an extra day off and plan to indulge myself in a serious readfest.

Favorites: Heroes and Heroines

As of yesterday afternoon, I couldn't peg a single favorite hero, even though I'd said I'd blog about it today.  Oh, I have many favorites.  Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan comes to mind.  Which opens up the world of movies and takes me to Indiana Jones.  Both are reluctant heroes.

I thought my blog post would be something along the lines of having no particular favorite hero, and then this morning it hit me.  Rhett Bulter.  A rascal.  A gentleman, although Scarlett didn't think so.  And while Ashley Wilkes was also a gentleman, he lacked that rascal-liness that made Rhett unforgettable...by readers and Scarlett.  Without a doubt, one of the best heroes ever written.

Once again, Rhett was a reluctant hero. He didn't want to be involved in the War of the States, but when push came to shove, he did.  He became a pirate, smuggling supplies through the blockade.  (Which brings to mind Capt. Jack Sparrow, another reluctant hero.)  He fell in love with a woman who spurned him, and he never gave up.  I have to believe that his, "Frankly, I don't give a damn," was his way of proving to Scarlett that she loved him.  He hung in there, in spite of her constant (excuse the French) bitchiness toward him.  He was there when she needed him, pushing her to be the woman she really was and to finally admit that she loved him.

And what a woman!  Scarlett was a woman beyond her time.  No sweet, demure woman, although she could pull that off when needed.  Rhett was initially attracted by her beauty, but he fell in love with her because of her spirit, reined in, as was her intelligence, by the confines of the times.

Which brings up favorite heroines.  Scarlett ranks among those.  Thinking back through all of my reading, I find my favorite heroines are strong, take charge women.  I think that began with Madeline.  Does anyone remember the Madeline books?

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”

Then came Eloise, who lived at the Plaza Hotel in NYC.  What a scamp!  And always in trouble.  One of the highlights of my life was staying at the Plaza when I was 13 and imagining Eloise around the corner of each hallway.  Granted, if I'd acted as Eloise did, even when much younger, I wouldn't have been allowed to breathe, much less have the run of a Plaza.  But her escapades always had me wishing I had more spirit.

 My next-door-neighbor introduced me to my next favorite heroine, Trixie Belden.  While others read Nancy Drew, I continued my worship of Trixie, a tomboy I admired for her daring and knack for getting herself into trouble, but always getting out of it with a lesson learned.  And I learned from the information in the books.  If you've been to our great County Zoo, you probably have seen the ghost fish in the jungle exhibit.  The fish are blind, and the moment I first saw them, I knew why.  It had been explained in The Mystery of the Bob-White Cave.  I learned about sheep, I learned about the Day of the Dead and cowboys and horses and riding.  I wanted a horse.  Oh, how I wanted a horse and to ride through the beauty of the Hudson Valley.  And the books were my first introduction to romance via Trixie and Jim.

For Every Heroine...For Every Hero...

I admit that I'm drawn to strong, independent heroines, but a story becomes better when that heroine meets her match in the hero.  For a strong woman, there must always be a strong man.  Give him a backstory to make me love him, and a woman who will stand beside him as his equal, and you've hooked me.  Add a bad boy, rascal, or as my friend author Kathie DeNosky says, a stinker (charming and incorrigible, but sworn to no woman...until the heroine) and he has me at Hello.  The harder they fall... ;)

Traveling Another's Path

Favorite literary characters are our theme this month. Hmm, that’s a tough one. I've had so many over the years. They've changed as I've aged, so how do I pick? I've been wrestling with this all month and still don’t have an answer.

There is one that stands out for me. I’m not sure I can say why. Not without hurting my pea-brain anyway. The character’s name is Tom Black. The book, When the Legends Die, by Hal Borland.

Tom is a young Indian betrayed by a tribal member for money and forcefully integrated into the white man’s world when his parents die. His only friend, a black bear cub, is kept chained nearby so Tom won’t run away. He is treated, for the most part, without compassion, respect or understanding. Hatred takes deep root in his heart.

We follow him as he grows up. He continues being used and betrayed by others. Disgust, disappointment and despair grow. In spite of that, he becomes an expert bronco rider. His use of this skill brings some money and fame. The acclamation helps him to feel important, but it’s for all the wrong reasons. He’s famous for riding a number of horses to death. The rest he would punish by riding in a brutal fashion.

By now you’re probably thinking, why would anyone like this guy? Because the story is about someone so lost and alone that all he knows is pain. You follow his journey as he discovers you can’t live a life of hate. It’s a masterful portrayal of how bitterness and unforgiveness will eat away at your soul. It shows that the quality of your life depends on you, no matter what has happened.

At the end, he revisits his roots. He goes “native” and returns to the mountains where he was happy as a child to find himself once more. It’s a story of redemption, and those are my favorite kind. I learned things about myself as I traveled Tom’s path.

So, why do I like this character? Maybe it’s the mother in me, wanting to comfort and love someone surrounded by angry, unfeeling people. Maybe it’s the need to protect the defenseless. Maybe it’s my lifelong love of the Native American People. Maybe it’s the need to root for the underdog.

My feelings for Tom’s character are nebulous at best. They’re there. They’re strong, but hard to define. Perhaps I’m afraid to look too close. Perhaps in defining them, I won’t like what I see. Perhaps it’s no one else’s business. I’m not real sure about a lot of things, but Tom Black, is special to me. 

Biggles: A Literary Adventurer (Melissa Robbins)

Movie still from Biggles:Adventures in Time

One of my favorite literary characters is Major James Bigglesworth aka Biggles.  I first discovered him in a campy 80’s movie, Biggles:  Adventures in Time when I was a kid.  I loved the movie then and since it came out the same time as Top Gun, it only fueled my pilot obsession.  I have since watched it as an adult and cringed, but who can resist a pilot? The first time I saw the movie, I had no idea that Biggles was a literary character.  The English books weren’t found on my Maryland library shelves.  With the joy of the Internet, I now have five Biggles books, three are 1940’s editions. 

Biggles was created by WW1 pilot, Captain WE Johns.  Through many, many books (101), Biggles has flown in both world wars for the Royal Air Force and any time a flyer is needed to save the day (secret air service and air police).  Many of the original stories were first published in flying magazines in the 30’s, but became so popular, they were published in book form too.      

  In every book, Biggles gets himself and his friends in some crazy and sometimes hilarious situations.  With the ones I’ve read, the bad guys are German or sympathizers, with one in particular, Biggles’ nemesis, Erick Von Stalhein.  The Germans really hate Biggles since in every book he steals one of their planes (or car or motorcycle) and uses it against them.  He’s quite fluent in German.  If Biggles isn’t rescuing his mates, they’re rescuing him!  “Biggles is facing an execution.  Let’s torpedo the sub he’s on.”

Now this being a romance blog, many of you may be wondering does Biggles breaks women’s hearts.  It’s quite the opposite.  Biggles fell madly in love with a French girl, but she turned out to be a German spy and her actions almost killed his entire squadron.  Still in love with her, he never loves again.   

Even in the most harrowing situations, there’s humor. I still laugh out loud when Biggles, Ginger, and Algy are naming their spy planes in Biggles in the Baltic.  If the scene wasn’t three pages long, I would post it here.  They call themselves the Boomerang Squadron, because a boomerang whirls out, strikes, and then whirls back home again.  This causes them to give their planes Australian names and after much debate Dingo, Didgeree-du, Willie-Willie, and Duck-billed Platypus are chosen. Sadly, the four planes don’t survive to the end of the book, but Biggles and Company destroying a plane or four is par for the course for them. 

My pilot character Connor (Cheeky Pilot) started reading the books as a teenager.  He joins the RAF because of Biggles. Connor's sister, Wren receives a Biggles book as a gift from her boyfriend and they use it to send coded messages to each other.  

This blog post made me realize that sometimes when we like a literary character that we also have to consider the supporting cast.  They give us a glimpse of how our hero reacts to things.  Where would Harry Potter be without Hermoine and Ron?  

Hmm. My Favorite Character Is... (Penny Rader)

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The topic for this month is favorite literary/fiction character(s).

Well, it's going to have to be a fiction character because I don't do literary.  I like happy endings.

Anyway, I choose Eve Dallas and Roarke from J.D. Robb's In Death series.  I cannot get enough of them. Yet, I nearly missed the opportunity to meet them all because the first covers were very futuristic-y and I'm not a fan of futuristic stories.  It's me, not them.  I just have a hard time wrapping head around futuristic stories.  Just ask my cp, Jeannie.  Then one day, while working at the bookstore, I was given the job of stripping books.  (Because of the expense involved, most publishers, at least when I worked at the bookstore, just wanted the covers of paperbacks returned.)

Anyway, there I was in the backroom of B Dalton, tearing the cover off a copy of Seduction in Death.  Because I'm pretty much incapable of having a book in my hands without checking out the opening sentences, I peeked.  That first page sucked me and wouldn't let go.  I couldn't wait to read more. I had to read more.  Then I discovered Seduction in Death was the 13th book on the series.  No problem!  I have a habit of starting books in the middle of a series and then going back to book one and playing catch up.  Did it with the Little House series (The school librarian handed me The Long Winter.  I had no idea it was part of a series.)  Happened again with Stephanie Plum.  (The publisher sent an advance copy of High Five to the store.  Hooked again.  Found book one and laughed myself silly throughout the series.)

Eve and Roarke fascinate me. I want to live with them, witness their interactions, their banter, their tenderness for one another, even their irritation with each other. Watching them grow over 30+ books has been such fun and I hope there are many, many, many more Eve and Roarke stories to come.  I find Eve's befuddlement over everything involved in marriage and friendships endearing.  She's not a huggy person, but when she loves, she LOVES, even if she has a hard time admitting it.  And Roarke?  Oh my. This Irishman stole my heart immediately.  The depth of his feelings for Eve are simply, well, I can't even find the words.  He can buy and sell pretty much anything on and off this planet, yet in his pocket he carries a button from Eve's coat. {sigh}

If you haven't read the series yet, the first book is Naked in Death.  The second is Glory in Death. J.D. Robb (aka Nora) has the complete list on her website. I hope you'll love Eve and Roarke (and Peabody and Mavis and McNab and Dr Mira and Galahad and Summerset ...) as much as I do.

~~~

Do you have any favorite fiction characters? Please share in the Comments section.

Favorite Literary aka Fictional Character(s) by J Vincent

Having read thousands of books I believed this would be an easy topic.  Then I went blank.  I thought of a lot of the books I had read, of the characters in them and couldn’t pull any one of them out as a “favorite.”  Over the next few days I mulled over the topic and two characters finally came to mind.  Many will recognize the first from this quote:

“They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That demned elusive Pimpernel”

Yes, Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.  He is a hero disguised in a foppish dandy exterior and manner known for witticisms on trivial matters such as: “Odd's fish, m'dear! The man can't even tie his own cravat!” or “Sink me! Your taylors have betrayed you! T'wood serve you better to send THEM to Madam Guillotine”   Sir Percy endures the disdain of the wife he loves while he and his band of aristocrats rescue French aristocracy from the guillotine.  I love his daring, his cool headed reactions to imminent danger, his fly-in-the-face manner to the authorities.  It was people like him I strove to be in my childhood playtime adventures.

The other favorite character is a man of a far different sort:  Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee.  Atticus is not as witty, but is a far deeper thinker than Sir Percy.  He tells Scout, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." and in another instance says, Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."
His enduring belief in people and the law, his humility, his daring to be different in a time that held little patience for such, to hold different--even dangerous--views for the time in which he lived will always keep him at the top of my list.

I am troubled that I haven’t come up with a favorite female character.  There are female characters I like an d enjoy.  Some I admire like Charlaine Harriss Lily Bard in her Shakespeare series.  But I haven't come up with any that I think fondly of like Sir Percy and Atticus. It must be a senior moment.  Which female characters would you propose as favorites?