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... ;)

Are you what you are by the books you read? (Melissa Robbins)

What am I reading right now?  Perhaps it has something to do with the middle grade book I’m working on, but you can’t see my nightstand with the books on it. 

Fiction:

Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan – No surprise, I love this series like everyone else on the planet.  I was a HUGE mythology fan in the sixth grade and would have loved Riordan’s Greek series.  His Egyptian one rocks too.  They both have history, humor, and adventure.  I have seen firsthand how it inspires kids to use their imaginations.  Recently, I was at the park with my son and some of his friends and one boy, who would make a great Percy, acted out scenes from the book. 

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare – I want to be Clare when I grow up.  This is the final book in her Infernal Devices trilogy.  The characters are demon hunters in Victorian England.  The way she writes settings are unbelievable.  Even if you are not a fan of vampires, demons, or werewolves, you would still enjoy this book.  I would love to know how she plots or if she is a pantser.  It has great humor and romance and the main hero is devilishly handsome, naughty, but also has a soft side that few see. 

Nonfiction:

Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole – Kole gives tips and advice for writing young adult and middle grade stories.  Very helpful.  Just after reading the first few chapters, I realized I already have to redo my chapter one. 

Do magazines count?  Just today, I picked up the latest issue of Britain at War.  It’s filled with articles on RAF pilots including one of my favorites, Willie Rhodes-Moorhouse, who I know from flying alongside Billy Fiske, an American who flew for the RAF. 

On my To Be Read pile:

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare – Clare is a pretty hot YA author right now.  This is the fifth book of Clare’s other demon hunter series that takes places in NYC.  The first book of the series will soon be released as a movie later this summer.  I hope the movie does the book justice.    

Inferno by Dan Brown – I love codes, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I like Robert Langdon books.  I hope this one is as clever as the rest.

The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen – the latest book in the Lady Georgie mysteries about a penniless royal in 1930’s England who solves crimes. 

Are you what you are by the books you read?

When you get too old to play with dolls (Melissa Robbins)

          As kids, my best friend and I acted out stories we read.  Naturally, we created our own adventures with our dolls too.  When I got too old to play with dolls, my active imagination had to do something and I turned to writing.  Perhaps those voices in my head started early. 

            I had to write, but it was in secret.  I kept my stories hidden from all eyes.  It was my version of diary writing.  To a teen girl, my life was boring and I lived vicariously through my characters who were far braver than me as Fox sailed on the high seas with pirates and Moira battled Scottish ghosts, curses, and murder.  My Fox story came about as a ‘what if’ (there’s that active imagination coming out).  My dad was a sailor and I pretended what would happen if we got caught in a thunderstorm, because my mom would NEVER let Dad and I sail if there was even a remote chance of a sprinkle.  Moira’s story started off as a dream.  Also in my teen years, I experienced love and heartbreak.  By writing about romance and adventure, my characters found those things that eluded me.      

           The writing slacked off until my son was born with heart defects.  Spending hours in the hospital, I wrote to keep my mind from going bonkers and to pass the time.  Those characters, the early incarnates of Wren and Company became my support group (my family) in a time of need. 

    

        Now I have a couple of hours to myself when my kids are at school.  I use that time to live vicariously through my characters again.  Not because I don’t like my life or that it’s boring (boring is good), it’s like hanging out with old friends and I want to see what they’re up to.   

The Magic of Books and People

Thanks to deadlines and family, I missed my blogging date last month, so I'm revisiting July's blog topic and will (hopefully) write about August's later this month.  Hey, at last I'm trying. :)

What or who has been the biggest influence in your writing and why?

Wow!  That's kind of  a loaded question.  There isn't one, specific person or thing that's influenced my writing.  Reading would have to be the first of the "what."  I love to read.  As I mentioned in a previous post, it was my dad who led me to read by sharing his love of books.  I can't remember a time when I wasn't reading or at least looking at pictures in a Little Golden Book.

Reading, of course, led to favorite books and authors.  I read the Trixie Belden series, while others were reading Nancy Drew.  I cut my romance reading teeth in high school with Georgette Heyer, then the classics (Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and others).  Stephen King hooked me immediately, beginning with Carrie, although I haven't read his books for several years.  My favorite contemporary romance books are by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, but there far too many others to list.  All of those books and authors have influenced my life in ways I will probably never know.

Then there are the people in my life.  My best friend from age 12 led me back to reading romance in the early '90s, which in turn tempted me to try to write.  Everyone I've met since 1996, when I joined RWA and WARA, have influenced me in some way, and that especially includes the members of WARA.  Along the way, I met others, and if it hadn't been for authors Kathie DeNosky and Janet Barton, I would have given up and thrown in the towel, long before I sold my first book.

While it may take a whole village to raise a child, it definitely takes a whole lifetime of whos and whats to create a writer.  It may be a lonely profession, but the perks are in the books read and written and the friends made along the way.  What or who has been the biggest influence in your writing and why?  Everything and everyone!