Book Boyfriends

Every female reader of romance novels has at one time or another, developed a crush on one of the dashing heroes in the books they pick up. Do you remember your heart pounding over one of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton brothers? How about Jamie Fraser in Outlander? Or, if you're like me and go way back, how about Nicholas Stafford from Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor?

It's one thing to develop a crush on the hero when you're reading the book–that means the author has done her job well. But it's quite another thing when the author develops the crush on the hero she's writing about. 

Here's my tale...

For the last several years I've been ghostwriting a series of books for someone else. I turn in the story and it gets published under another name. I hold no rights to it and can never claim I had anything to do with it. This has been a nice setup so far. I get paid for my work up front, and I don't have to spend any of that money promoting the book, or take time away from my writing to try to push sales of said book. For my latest endeavor, I needed to develop a hero who had survived the Civil War. 

My first idea was to have my hero be a spy for the newly-formed Pinkerton Agency. However, every able-bodied man in his 20s or 30s would have been expected to fight unless he had some kind of disability. What kind of disability could I create for the man to keep him from the battlefield so he could do his spy business, but also would have appeal to the ladies? After pondering this for several days, I invented Eye-Patch Guy. Since I'd worn an eye patch as a child as a cure for amblyopia, I was drawn to my invented hero. Which got me to thinking about other men over the years who wore eye patches. Sammy Davis, Jr. came to mind, as did Dan Crenshaw, now serving in Congress. Yes, men with eye-patches were sexy, at least to me. The more I thought about creating this man's story and then giving him away, the more I realized I couldn't do so. 

What to do? 

I couldn't abandon Eye-Patch Guy. So, I created another Civil War hero for my ghostwriting tale, and he's coming along nicely. I'm holding on to the one who makes my heart flutter. I'll write his story and publish it under my own name. Whether I get paid for writing it is not important at this point. What is important is I'll be able to point to him with pride. 

Once I give him a name other than Eye-Patch Guy. And come up with a heroine worthy of him. 

Any ideas?

TRR's Blog Hop--Day 8--Jude Deveraux

Of course, no tribute to writers who inspire me would be complete without mentioning Jude Deveraux. She is the one who first introduced me to time travel, a sub-genre I've come to adore. A Knight in Shining Armor has a place on my 'forever' shelf. Even though it's not the first book Jude wrote, and by no means her last, it holds a special place in my heart.

In the course of my many moves around the country, I lost the original version of this book and had to replace it with a later edition. In her notes in the front of the book, Jude explained that, after the initial release, some of her faithful followers were bothered by certain elements of the book, and she was glad for the opportunity to be able to make changes. So, even though I adored this book, the author saw room for improvement. That taught me a lot about how a manuscript is never finished. Now, when I think I'm done with a manuscript, I put it away for a couple days. When I pull it back out, I can invariably find something to correct. And I'm still dying to do what Jude did to write this book--hide away in a cabin in the woods for four months. I hope Jude inspires you, too..

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Romance Madness Hop--January 25-29, 2013

Romances We Love

How can you narrow it down?

When asked to write about one book that I love, I struggled for a few days with the assignment. Then, I decided, even though it meant more work on my part, I’d devote each day of the hop to an author who influenced me. First up is Jude Deveraux.

I read A Knight in Shining Armor in 1989, when I was consuming romance books like they were Skittles, and instantly fell in love with it, and with the whole concept of time travel. Douglass is the perfect heroine, flawed and lovable. And Nicholas—the knight in shining armor, literally. Sigh.

Along the way, in one of my moves or the other, I purged some of my mountain of books and Jude’s book fell by the wayside. But I never forgot it. When she re-released it in 2002, I purchased it again and it’s now a part of my permanent collection. She included a few pages on what her process was while writing it. She closeted herself away for three and a half months in a cabin in the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico to write the book. I used to own a log cabin in the George Washington National Forest in West Virginia and have often thought I’d love to go back there and write a book. I’m now working on a time travel…

I’m offering a $5 gift card to one lucky commenter at the end of this blog hop, which will run from January 25-January 29. Tell me who your favorite author is and why. Then click on the Romance Madness icon on the right side of this page to visit other stops on this tour. And stop back here again tomorrow to see who’s next on my list of favorites.