Playing with fire
Posted by CM under Ornithology on Mon 13 Nov 2006
t turns out my WIP has an incredibly handsome, wealthy alpha-male who falls in love with the heroine.
It also turns out that the alpha-male is not the hero. Nor a villain. And I like it. In fact, I adore it. I spit in the face of the alpha-male! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Have I gone mad?
November 13th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
I’ve been listening to the comments made by the agents/editor at RWA Idol, and they all commented that for historicals the hero needed to be a) titled, b) rich, c) alpha and, if you plan to submit to Lucia Macro at Avon, d) both his parents should be dead.
The general consensus was that while these qualities (aside from the no parents thing) might not be their personal preferences, they are looking to buy a story that will sell to the masses, and the masses want heroes with the above qualities.
That being said, I think your story sounds fabulous and different. Also, as we learned from FanLit, it’s all about the marketing and a clever blurb. And who knows? Maybe this alpha-male will end up just begging for a book of his very own…
November 13th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
He’s not (a). Or (b). Or (c).
He does have one dead parent.
Maybe I should start referring to this as “Unmarketable Ornithological Work of Indeterminate Suckage.”
November 14th, 2006 at 12:38 am
As long as there are no bloody peach-like moons and it’s not set in Colombia (apparently only an idiot would set their book in Colombia - yeah, the comments were that harsh), there’s still a chance…
November 14th, 2006 at 7:54 am
Oh, I was present at that workshop, and it was even worse in person. I blogged about it at the time and commented on a few other blog posts about it.
I’d LOVE a historical romance where the alpha doesn’t get the girl. And I agree with Sara — if he goes through enough in this first book, maybe he’ll deserve one of his own.
November 14th, 2006 at 8:15 am
So long as your hero is more pro-active than your alpha you should be fine.
Alice
November 14th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Heck — if any of us met a real live Alpha-male in person, we’d probably cross to the other side of the street, keep looking over our shoulders, and run for our lives at the first opportunity.
I *know* we’re supposed to read romance to escape our real lives, but scary Alpha-males? Are we grooming yet another generation of women who love the dangerous men who kill them??? (Can you tell I write mystery??)
November 14th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
Hey! I came across your site on the Eloisa board! I’m excited to keep up with your blog!!!
November 14th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Well, I guess I know not to submit my manuscript to Lucia Macro, LOL! The hero of my first book isn’t titled (he’s an Irish racehorse trainer), he isn’t rich (though he has a plan to become so), he isn’t alpha (he’s a textbook “gamma” hero, IMO), and his parents are both alive (although they live far away; does that help?)
Whatever, I’m told he’s hot as hell!
November 15th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
I think there’s a lot of wiggle room in the definition of alpha, though… I’ve seen a few articles about “gammas,” and honestly they sound like alphas to me. Somewhere or other I’ve seen an article about the difference between an asshole and an alpha — I think that’s the point of all this, yes? The editors are looking for heroes who are active and strong, not TSTL or limp dishrags. Somehow, CM, I do not think you are capable of writing a stupid dishrag of a hero. I’m with Alice: keep the characters in action, not woe-is-me, mode, and you’ll be fine.
I listened to the RWA Idol tapes just yesterday — really a harsh wake up call. They were pretty explicit about what they do and don’t want, but the thing I really noticed is that the difference between the ones they wanted to see more of and ones they went “meh” at wasn’t the type of hero, or the setting, or even the writing technically: it was the “it” factor. Voice. And CM, you’ve got one of the strongest voices I’ve read in years. Just keep writing!!
November 16th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Can I comment can I comment can I comment….
I totally agree with everything Chris said. Voila!
November 16th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
I think you have to love your hero. If you don’t, why should any reader? So if alpha males really don’t do it for you, writing one would probably be a disaster. I must admit, a certain measure of alpha-ness *does* appeal to me. But is has to be more than tough-guy-learns-to-love. I think I’m striving for a hero who looks alpha on the outside, but has a hidden beta underneath.
Then it’s like the age-old question - How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?
Oh dear. So many more naughty metaphors springing to mind. This is definitely the day to be writing.