October 2, 2005 | Uncategorized
Angie came over from Shara Jones’s blog to ask some questions. Shara has a great contest going on, which is to go to an author’s blog linked from her site and ask questions, then go back to her blog and post the answers. And a lucky winner wins the prize of something called “book underwear”, which is such a strange concept that only a romantic novelist could have thought it up.
Anyway, here’s Angie’s post:
Hi! Supposed to tell you “Shara Jones sent me” and ask you a question… 1. What is your favorite type of heroine to write? What is your favorite type of hero?
My favourite type of character is one who takes on a life of his or her own, and who starts telling me what to do with them. One who surprises me and delights me and pisses me off.
I’ve noticed that my favourite type of heroine is usually one who is reinventing herself. I suppose it’s because I’m a fiction writer, but I’m fascinated by identity and how we create it. Again and again my heroines decide to leave their own lives behind and become somebody new.
Kitty, in FEATURED ATTRACTION, has come back to her home town to prove she’s not the loser she always thought she was growing up. Marianne, in BEING A BAD GIRL, has left her goody-two-shoes life, and her anorexia, behind and is trying to become a naughty, sexually liberated pleasure-seeker.
Elisabeth, in DELICIOUS, has gone the other way: she grew up in a series of communes and nudist camps and has reinvented herself as a straight-laced teacher. And Rosie, in SPIRIT WILLING, FLESH WEAK, is the most extreme case: she’s changed her name, made up an entire fictional background, and has started lying for a living, as a fake psychic.
One of the two heroines in CONNECTED, the book I’m working on now, has similarly drastically reinvented herself, changing her name, hiding her background, and becoming somebody entirely new. The story starts when the troubles of her past start reoccuring, and take on a life of their own, all over the world.
My favourite type of hero is a little bit more general. I love heroes who are principled (though they might not know it), intelligent, strong, good-humoured, and flawed. They are usually deluded about life in some way.
Oh, and beautiful. And very well hung.
How about you?
Olga says:
I love your ideas of characters! I also like the heroines are capable of reinventing themselves, who can change their lives, and who are capable of reaching their goals in the end, no matter how hard it is.
Stephen says:
You can tell that a pheasant has been well hung because when you pull on the tail feathers they come off very easily in your hand.
Do you reckon that the same applies to heroes?
Julie says:
Stephen, I don’t know about your heroes, but mine very definitely do not come off easily in the hand.
Thanks, Olga!
Kris Starr says:
Stephen, I don’t know about your heroes, but mine very definitely do not come off easily in the hand.
*duct tapes mouth shut*
Mmmrf grrrph iff shurff.
*Ahem*
I just did a quick mental check of all my heroines in ALL of my works-in-progress and even my story IDEAS that I have scribbled down on scraps of paper.
Want to hear something scary? To some degree, each of them is healing. I gave myself goosebumps when I realized that.
Who says we don’t write what we know??
Danica says:
Wow, this is great stuff!
Julie says:
That’s fascinating, Kris. I really do think there can be a big connection between real life and fiction. Whether we mean it to be there or not.
Cheers Danica!
Angie the Hippo says:
Thanks for the great answer Julie! It helped me to focus a bit on my own charachters too, thinking “why this?” instead of them being all foggy and fuzzy!
YAY! And I hope we win some book undies!
Julie says:
Thank you for asking the question, Angie. I liked thinking about the similarities and especially the differences between my characters. I know I’ve got this reinvention thing going with my heroines, and I worry sometimes that I’m repeating myself. Writing it out like that helped me to know there are some differences…though I think two of my next three heroines will step away from that reinvention theme.
I hope we win the book undies too. Go us!
liz says:
I’m still trying to work out what book underwear could be.
Vests to cover those bare chested Scots on American romances, poor souls? Something modest with which to drape those women who’ve had their bodices ripped?
On the other hand, Paul Smith used to do shirts in a print made up of Mills & Boon covers…
Confused.