Anyone who has read my books knows the kind of heroes I write, and probably the most “mega” alpha hero I ever wrote was Zeke Monroe from my Savage Destiny series. Jake Harkner from Outlaw Hearts runs a very close second, and he’s tied with Zeke’s son Wolf’s Blood and his Cheyenne brother, Swift Arrow. Oh, gosh, I can’t leave out Colt Travis from Thunder on the Plains or Luke Fontaine from Wildest Dreams. Then there is Sage Lightfoot from my newest published book Paradise Valley – and in the book I just finished (Desperate Hearts - coming out next September) the hero is a Montana vigilante. Yup. An alpha man.
I don’t know what happens to me when I write these stories, but I fall madly in love with my heroes. I joke that I’ve written 59 books so I’ve had 59 affairs, but 43 would be a closer figure because Zeke was in 6 books (Savage Destiny), Caleb Sax in 3 books (Blue Hawk Trilogy) and Rising Eagle was in three books (Mystic Indian Trilogy). Now I’ve given you the names of a couple more of my alpha men.
I write this blog for other writers who might wonder how to become so engrossed in their stories that they can forget about all the “do’s” and “don’ts” of writing, all the worry over motivation and conflict and goal of the story – because I can tell you straight out that everything your story needs will come naturally if you FALL IN LOVE WITH THE HERO – and if YOU ARE THE HEROINE. If you’re a male writing the story, then I suppose it should be the other way around. Either way, you have to personally be passionately in love with your characters. They have to be so real to you that you cry over them, you dream about them, you long for them, you’re loyal to them, you hate ending your book because it means leaving them, and you NEVER FORGET THEM – EVER!
Yes, I have slept with every one of my heroes. In the three inspirational books I wrote for Harlequin (Where Heaven Begins, Walk by Faith and Follow Your Heart) I of course couldn’t include love scenes. Gosh, that about killed me. In Where Heaven Begins I made the long trip all the way to the Yukon with my hero and couldn’t sleep with him! Oh, I’m such a slut. I wanted to cancel my contract so I could sleep with this guy all the way to Canada! I was miserable having to keep my hands off of him.
I can’t stress enough that if your hero and heroine aren’t totally real to you – so real that you sometimes wonder if they really did exist – and if you don’t absolutely love what you are writing and love your characters, you’ll never enjoy the writing process and you probably won’t write a page-turner.
Currently I am re-reading Savage Destiny because the books have been converted to a version that can be used by all types of e-readers. Usually lots of glitches come through because of the software used for these conversions, which means I have to proofread the books again. Well, this is about the sixth time I’ve had to re-read these books (for various reprints), and believe me, it’s killing me! For one thing, I can’t put my own books down, so I am reading, reading, reading (have to go through all 6 books in a matter of days) – and to read these books rapidly back to back is torture.
I am again absorbed emotionally in Zeke and Abbie’s lives, and these books are so passionate and Zeke is such a powerfully passionate man, his and Abbie’s love for each other so strong, that I feel worn out. I’ve watched the West grow, watched the horribly sad demise of the Plains Indians, lost loved ones, watched my children grow and suffer the pain of carrying mixed blood, and I’ve slept with Zeke over and over again. The guy is so good at what he does that I’m worn out! Holy cow, I had no idea when I first wrote these books how much savage passion I gave this man. I was 30 years younger and more able to handle him then, I guess. LOL!
I love my heroes, and I think that because I love them, my readers love them. To this day, after 30 years, readers still make the most comments on Zeke Monroe from Savage Destiny as far as a memorable hero – and his and Abbie’s love story left a lasting impression on most of my readers, so much so that the books are hard to find because readers don’t want to turn them in to used book stores. Honestly, the writing itself leaves a lot to be desired, because these were my first books and I was bad about using a bit too much passive voice and about repeating some things too much and putting too many words in my characters’ mouths. It doesn’t bother me at all to admit the writing itself could stand improvement. I’ve learned so much since those books and would love to re-write them, but alas, working with conversions doesn’t allow that. You can only make small changes here and there. I have to let the books be printed pretty much as-is – and yet that doesn’t seem to matter to my readers. To this day the only comments I get are what a great love story this series is, and how much they love Zeke and Abbie. No one mentions the poor writing, because in spite of it, the stories are exciting and move fast and are full of real history, action, adventure and passionate, passionate romance.
My agent pinned down exactly what kind of a writer I am – I am not literary – I am a story-teller. I am not the least bit offended when people say I’m not a literary writer. I don’t want to be a literary writer. I don’t want my readers to struggle with big words and complicated plots and wordy descriptions that go on for pages. I want them to get excited, turn the pages, fall in love, be afraid, be elated, laugh and cry with my characters. If important characters die (and they do in my books because real history dictates it) I want my readers to mourn with the characters left behind. I want them to feel emotional and physical pain right along with the characters.
As I scan through the 59 books I have written, I realize that pretty much all of them involve the alpha man – always a man who is either Indian or outlaw or lawman or scout or Texas Ranger. In The Forever Tree the hero was a logger. They are always brawny, rugged survivors, and of course always handsome, usually tall and dark but sometimes have lighter coloring but great bodies. If you love the alpha man, read my books. But these men also always have a vulnerability that the heroine discovers and latches onto. There is always a reason for why they are the way they are, and the heroine has a way of bringing that out of the alpha man, a way of touching him deeply and forcing him to face the softer side that he keeps deeply buried for personal reasons.
Oh, I’m such a slut. My husband understands I have to be in order to write great heroes. Besides, I take my slutty needs out on him. He can always tell when I’ve just written a hot love scene. Obviously, he doesn’t mind! Why would he? He enjoys filling in for the hero! In real life there has only been one man in my life for 48 years now, but that’s a little bit because elements of my own husband can be found in my heroes. He’s always been a very honest man who is solidly built, devoted only to me, and he’s a “take no prisoners” kind of man. I love that about him. He’s not romantic like some of the heroes we write – as far as fancy words and all that. What’s romantic about my husband is that he is so blatantly honest and loyal, protective and able, a hard worker and a good provider. Never once in our marriage have I had to wonder if he loved me or if I could trust him. And never once have I cheated on him … except when I’m writing.
So, here I sit getting ready to proofread Savage Destiny #6. Oh, gosh, I don’t want to read this one again because it is such a devastatingly emotional story. I balled my eyes out writing it 30 years ago, and every time I have to read it again, I sob all over again – literally. By book #6 Zeke and Abbie are as real as me and my husband. Their family is my family, and their losses and grief are mine, too, as well as their triumphs and joy. #6 is a climax of about 30 years together, and it’s not an easy read emotionally. I hope this is the last time I have to re-read these books, because they take so much out of me. I guess if you read them the first time without knowing what is going to happen, it’s not quite so bad, but you’ll still cry. My problem is that I KNOW what’s going to happen and I don’t know if I can go through this again because I am Abigail Monroe and I have to feel her pain and her loss and her aching heart. I have to help her go on with her life without the very core of her strength – Zeke. That’s why I ended up writing a 7th book (EAGLE’S SONG). I couldn’t quite leave this family, and there were still some unfinished stories there, plus I could go into the lives of Zeke’s children and grandchildren, prove to myself that Zeke lived on in his descendants.
My point here is that the more in love you are with your story, your genre and your characters, the easier your story will unfold before your very eyes. I wrote all 7 of my Savage Destiny books without any kind of synopsis or outline. I had no idea what would happen. I didn’t want to know. I just “lived” with my characters and let their stories unfold for me. Other characters came into the stories and somehow I tied all these people’s lives together through 30 years of settling Colorado, a bit like Michener’s Centennial. If you’ve never watched that TV mini-series, order it and watch it. Savage Destiny is very much like it as far as the settling of Colorado and what it did to the Cheyenne. It always breaks my heart to think of what America did to its Native Americans in its quest for land and gold and progress. I have included that in many of my books because I want readers to know the truth about what happened to our Native Americans.
Alas, although it will be very difficult for me to write it, I’ve decided there has to be an 8th Savage Destiny book – a contemporary involving yet another one of Zeke’s descendants. The main reason I want to do #8 is because it will help my heart. I just can’t get away from this family. Writing about a descendant of Zeke is a way to keep my beloved Zeke Monroe (Lone Eagle) alive. As one writing friend recently put it, Zeke was my “first love” in writing, and we never forget that first love. I had never thought of it that way, but it’s true. After all the stories I’ve written, all the heroes I’ve loved, every one of them has had a little bit of Zeke’s personality and fierce passion in them, as well as Zeke’s idea of true justice. Hey – don’t mess with the man or anyone he loves! I own a very a big Indian knife with a buffalo jaw bone handle, in a beaded sheath made of rawhide. It’s an Indian artifact, and I’m convinced that it used to belong to Zeke Monroe because he really did exist in Colorado in the 1800’s … didn’t he?
Congrats on getting your books in all the formats. I agree about living the lives of the characters. It's so important for your readers to become the characters and fall in love with the heroes. :)
ReplyDeleteRosanne, Thank you for bringing the magnificent Jake Harkner to life! He will always be my #1.
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