He's Not That Into You by Betsy Ashton

I'm thinking about the male characters I write. Some are strong. Some are weak. All, until now, are secondary characters.

In my Mad Max series. the main character has a boyfriend who is strong, funny and loving. Her son-in-law could be better drawn. If I had a chance to rewrite book one of the series, I'd flesh out the SIL better. I gave him short shrift. He gets better exposure in the second book in the series. From a shadow provider for his family in book one to a co-parent with his mother-in-law in book two, he grows and develops. I'm now comfortable more with him.

I have a work in progress with a female main character. All but one of the male characters are insignificant until they end up dead. What? They end up dead? Yes. The main character is a woman who is also a serial killer. She's complex. She's narcissistic, sociopathic and at times psychopathic. She is always interesting, according to my beta readers and critique group. Did I mention I'm writing in first person singular? Yes, from inside the mind of a conflicted serial killer. I'm finding it a tremendous challenge and worthy of a shout when I get a chapter balanced between conflict, coldness and elation.

For the past few weeks, one voice is growing inside my head. It's a he. You read that right, a he. Maybe the early male characters weren't into me enough to take charge. This one is. He is a single parent with a young daughter and a sister who helps raise her. He's all about the outdoors and team sports. His daughter is into fairies and tea parties. He's an alpha male; she's a girly girl.

He's a stranger in a strange land, in that he's transferred from where he grew up to a different city in a different state. He can't blend in, because he looks different. He's in law enforcement with a position of authority, but his team distrusts him due to his outsider-ness. He has to prove himself worthy of leading them.

His name has to say something about me, though. It sounds female. Letters are often addressed to him as "Dear Ms. ..." Am I just not that into male characters that I have to give them female names? Thoughts?

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Betsy Ashton is the author of Mad Max Unintended Consequences available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The second book in the series, Uncharted Territory, will be released in June 2015. She lives for words and writing.

He's Just Not That Into You; Kind of Says It All by Margo Hoornstra

He's Just Not That Into You. Though I've never seen the movie, I have a feeling it's about boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy really isn't all that broken up about it.

Doing a little research, I discovered this is another movie based on a book, a self help book of the same name. The basic premise is that men will do whatever they can, move mountains if they have to, to be with the woman they love. If that's not who you're with, if he makes excuses to avoid seeing you like, 'my dog barfed on the carpet and I have to clean it up right now or it will stain' -  yeah, what guy thinks that way - well, He's Just Not That Into You. Many men, in fact, consider love a verb rather than a noun.

Night Stars and Mourning Doves and Only If You Dare my most recent releases in the Dearly Beloved series from The Wild Rose Press, have heroes with the latter mindset. They turn themselves inside out trying to avoid commitment.

Take Eric Matthews from Night Stars and Mourning Doves

Devastating life events have taken a toll on Eric Matthews. After losing his wife and unborn daughter, he's come home to heal. Serving as best man at his kid brother's wedding is the only relationship he cares to contemplate--no matter how attractive the maid of honor.

Here's an excerpt:

As his father left through the front door, Eric walked into the kitchen on his way to the back entrance. Jay sat at one end of the oval shaped oak table wearing his favorite T-shirt, the red one with a cartoon inspired race car on its front. His grandmother bustled nearby.

“Let me do that,” Eric told her. “You sit and I’ll bring you a cup of coffee or something.”

She waved a spoon in a shooing motion. “Don’t be silly. What else would I do?”

“I don’t know. You must be busy with Chris getting married in a few weeks.”

“Those arrangements are coming along just fine with very little help from me. Anyway, you know what they say. The only job the mother of the groom has is to wear beige and keep her mouth shut.”

“I’ve met Angela. She certainly doesn’t seem like the bridezilla type.”

In fact, in Eric’s mind the woman his younger brother had chosen to spend his life with had all the qualities he’d once sought in a wife.

“She’s as far from being that as any bride can get. And I’m kidding about the mother of the groom stuff.”

“What’s it like working with her mother?”

“I wouldn’t know. Since there is no mother of the bride. Just a sister who flew in recently from somewhere out west, Los Angeles, I think.”

He collected his cross-trainers and sat down at the other end of the table from Jay. “Angela has a sister?”

In place of answering, she addressed her grandson. “Do you want cereal for breakfast, sweetheart?”

“Yeah.”

Eric lifted his head to stare across the table. “Not, yeah, yes. And yes, what?”

The boy looked at him then his grandma. “Yes, please.”

“Nice work,” Eric said and returned to tightening laces.

His mother set a bowl of cereal down in front of Jay then pushed the child’s chair closer to the table. “Angela had us over for dinner to meet her one day last month.” She poured milk on the cereal and set down the spoon she’d been holding. “Orange juice or apple, sweetheart?”

“Apple.” He glanced at both adults. “Please.”

“The sister moved to town shortly after Chris and Angela became engaged, though Angela says there’s no connection between the two events.”

Eric began to tie his second shoe. “What’s her name? The sister.” He had no clue why he wanted details. Curiosity about the family his brother was about to join maybe.

“Elyse. She’s very nice.” For the first time since his arrival in the kitchen, she straightened to look him square in the eye. “Someone you might like to meet, even get to know.”

He stood, too, then couldn’t back up fast enough. His thighs hit the chair he just vacated and knocked it sideways. “I’m sure I’ll meet her eventually.”

Getting to know her, or any woman just now, was flat out of the question. On the off chance he decided someday to care about someone again—which he seriously doubted would ever happen—the pursuit would be on his terms and no one else’s.

 

 

Then there's Jonah Colt from Only If You Dare

Waking up after spending the night with a woman he barely knows, Jonah is stunned to realize sex for the sake of sex isn't enough for him anymore. A veteran of more military battles than he cares to count, he wants to forget it all and focus on peaceful civilian life. Except flashbacks won't allow it.

Jonah's excerpt follows:

It had never been his intention to deceive her. Jonah Colt never set out to do much more than have a good time when someone like Cynthia Buckingham literally fell into his life.

Alone in his living room on a Saturday, kicked back in the dark brown leather recliner, he’d sat for so long he hadn’t noticed the room growing darker as late afternoon gave way to early evening.

A million dollar view through floor to ceiling windows had been a major selling point when he bought the top floor condo five years ago. But when was the last time he’d actually slowed down long enough to enjoy it?

The shades were drawn on a sight that was only worth seeing in the day time anyway. A man made forest was to the right, complete with squirrels, birds and other indigenous critters. And to the left, a precisely trimmed and pruned golf course stretched along the edge of the city. Also man made. Another one of the original attractions when he bought the place, thinking he’d like to learn to play. Then finding out, after a year of lessons, the pace of the sport bored him to tears.

He didn’t like golf because he didn’t like golf. Period. Not because he was losing interest in life or in any other damned way becoming depressed or antisocial. Nor was he embarking on any excessive behaviors involving liquor, sex or drugs.

What could he say? Two out of three wasn’t bad.

The last swallow of the two fingers of high end vodka he’d indulged in gave off a subtle heat as the thick liquid slid down his throat and trickled into an empty stomach.

As he moved to put his glass on the table, it slipped sideways on a clatter. With his legs pushed down to bring the chair upright, he steadied the tumbler to set it firmly on its base. Then snatched it up as he stood to walk out to the kitchen where he opened the dishwasher, dumped the glass onto the top shelf then slammed the door.

There. Evidence disposed of.

Yes, sir, two very reluctant heroes. Wait until their respective heroines get a hold of them.

My days to blog at Roses of Prose are the 11th and 23rd. For more about me and my stories, please visit my WEBSITE

Romantic Comedy vs. Drama...Finding the Balance by Jannine Gallant

It occurred to me our two movies this month represent these categories. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is drama. Crazy people in an insane asylum. Screams drama, right? He's Just Not That Into You is billed as romantic comedy--a group of young adults filled with angst over their romantic problems. Their situations are silly and over the top and funny. But there's a darker side to their problems, as you'll find in most romantic comedies. The balance is necessary, or the film turns into an...um...Jim Carrey movie. LOL As for our Cuckoo's Nest, well, have you ever seen Jack Nicholson not be funny? He lightens a serious situation with some really comic lines.

So, basically we need to mix our drama and our comedy in the right proportions to come up with a winning combination. Whether it's in a movie...or a book. I never really thought about it before, but subconsciously I've been doing this all along in my writing.

Asking For Trouble is romantic comedy. I've mixed an inept uncle (the hero) with his precocious baby nephew, and thrown in a heroine who saves his butt on more than one occasion. The resulting situations are funny. (At least I hope they are.) But underneath runs a thread of heartache for both characters because they feel their life goals are simply too different to find common ground, despite the love they share. A little tragedy mixed with the babysitting mishaps. Without the drama, my book would have turned into a Three Stooges episode.

I also write romantic suspense. Some of it can be pretty dark. In A Deadly Love, a serial killer is cutting the hearts out of women--literally. But there's a giant dog who constantly digs holes in the neighbor's yard and a grandmother who wears tie-dye and has some great one-liners. They make the reader smile. (I hope.) Again, a little balance to keep the reader entertained while they bite their knuckles, wondering who the killer will strike down next.

So, do you like your romantic comedy with an underside of drama...and vice versa? Or is mixing genres not your thing?

Visit me at my website to find out more about me and my mishmashed works! 

He's Just Not That Into You - Women Scorned and Exes by Alison Henderson

Our topic this month, He's Just Not That Into You, got me thinking, but not about the movie. Since I've never seen it, I had to think of something else. I let the words of the title roll around in my brain until they could make a connection of some kind. Here's what I came up with: He's Just Not That Into You made me think of a woman scorned (like Sharon Stone in Fatal Attraction) and also the whole idea of Exes.

Both these themes can make juicy fodder in romance novels, but I've never used either in my stories. I wonder why. They both provide excellent built-in conflict. The woman scorned could be either the heroine or an antagonist. If she's the heroine, she could have been dumped by the hero or another man. How would that make her feel and behave? If she is the antagonist, does she come after the man who dumped her (the hero) or his new love interest (the heroine)?

An ex-lover or spouse can be either a villain, a comfortable old friend, or something in between. Having a past with someone can add elements of jealousy, regret, or outright fury. 

Since I have no personal experience writing characters like this, I'm going to take a little poll. Please chime in and share your ideas.

1. Have you written a story that included a woman scorned? Who was she?
2. Do any of your favorite books include this theme? How did the author use it?
3. Do you like to write about ex-lovers or ex-spouses? Do you like to read about them?
4. What do you think is the most effective use of an ex from a character standpoint?

I've clearly been missing the boat. I need to add a character like this to my WIP. Hmm. I wonder who it will be.

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com
http://alisonhenderson.blogspot.com 

The Dream Team by Diane Burton

This month our theme is based on two movies, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or He’s Just Not That Into You. What a choice. I’ve never seen either film. So I’m going to write about another movie that takes place in a mental institution, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It's called The Dream Team (Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle). If you haven’t seen this one, do so. You’re in for a real treat. The inmates go to a baseball game in New York City, where they’re stranded when their chaperone ends up in the hospital. Worse, they’re pursued by criminals who know they witnessed a crime.

What I like about The Dream Team is the way they are forced to work together. Back at the mental hospital, none of them got along. Now in order to survive, they have to push aside their neuroses and act like “normal” people. In the process, they find that the outside world is sometimes crazier than the one they left behind at the hospital.

Working together as a team, they discover they are stronger than they could imagine. Isn’t that true of real life?

When my daughter entered first grade, she wanted to join Brownie Girl Scouts. Somehow (don't ask) I offered to be the assistant leader. When the leader quit, guess who became the leader? I’d never been a Girl Scout so I had a lot to learn. One of the things I learned was working on a team. I would never have tackled chairing an event for a group of fifty girls if one of the other leaders hadn’t said she’d help. Years later, with the help of more leaders, I organized events for over 300 girls. And then training events for leaders. Again with the help of many. During my years as an adult Girl Scouts, I learned the value of team building and working as a team. Hopefully, the girls learned the same thing, too.

This group, The Roses of Prose, is strong because of its team. By ourselves, we’re okay. Together, we are better. As a solo blogger, I am often at a loss as to what to blog about each week. Here, we discuss ideas, which spark other ideas. Stronger together than alone.

I hope you find a group that makes you stronger.

 

Science fiction romance author Diane Burton blogs here on the 8th and 30th of each month and Mondays on her own site http://dianeburton.blogspot.com