HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

      Remember that song HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO by Bonnie Tyler?

       “Where have all the good men gone?” … “I need a hero. He’s gotta’ be strong and he’s gotta’ be fast and he’s gotta’ be fresh from the fight.”

      Watch the official lyric video on YouTube. It so perfectly fits a romance reader’s vision of a hero. The background is western scenery, and the shadowy figure of the man in the video reminds me of Jake. I love the lyrics and the great music that go with them. It seems whenever most women think of a hero, they end up envisioning the rough and tumble cowboy. That is what is depicted in the lyric video. Even in today’s times, we loved the modern cowboys in YELLOWSTONE, especially Rip and Kayce. Both were always so ready to protect and defend, yet so understanding and loving toward the women in their lives.

       Of course, when I think of my own heroes, I think of John Hawkins from TEXAS EMBRACE, Zeke Monroe from my SAVAGE DESTINY series, Colt Travis from THUNDER ON THE PLAINS, and so many more … 76 to be exact … and hero of heroes, Jake Harkner from my OUTLAW series.

       It seems like today we need heroes more than ever. I see heroism and masculinity watered down today in TV ads, books and movies, and especially in today’s sitcoms. Why is the man in so many sitcoms the goofy, blundering dunce and the wife (if they are even married) the smart, strong one in the relationship who is always rolling her eyes at the man’s ridiculous stupidity and weakness? Raymond’s wife is always calling him an idiot, and he behaves like one. That’s just one of many examples.

       Yes, I admire strong women, and few women today are as strong and brave as the pioneer women of the past. How they managed to handle the things they had to put up with and work as hard as they did while having babies alone on the prairie and making all their own and the family’s clothes and baking all their own bread and doing all the cooking and cleaning while raising a large family and scrubbing clothes on a washboard and carrying buckets of water and all the other endless chores required of them – I will never understand.

      Writing about such women is an endless challenge, because with today’s conveniences, it is difficult to imagine what their lives must have been like. At the same time, when I write strong women, I make them strong because they are living with very strong and brave men. My heroes needed women who could match their bravery and needs. Yes, sometimes women had to put the man in his place and had ways of handling the man so cleverly that he didn’t even realize he was being secretly manipulated … much like we women still do today. LOL! But the fact remains that a woman had to be strong and brave and feisty in my books to tame her determined, hard-living husband.

        The best part is, although my heroes are “take no sh—” men who walk right into danger without hesitation, they are good to their women. They are true heroes in so many ways. They love their wives and families and are willing to lay their lives on the line for them. They are men who fit my basic male character, which is a “bad man with a good heart.” Of course, my heroes aren’t always bad … just tough and willing to stand up for what they believe is right.

       I know all of you have your favorite Bittner heroes, and the majority of you still pick Zeke or Jake over all the others, but I hope you will comment on my Street Team page or comment on this blog as to who some of your other Bittner favorites are. The media and entertainment industry need to stop robbing today’s men of their masculinity. Are you like me and wish the men in today’s TV shows were more manly and heroic? I am so tired of the male character always being stupid and silly.

       Meantime, if you want to read about “real men,” keep reading historical romance. I always tell men today that if they really want to know what women want, they should read a romance!