Bad Boys - And TheWomen Who Tame Them

Last month, I posted a tribute to bad boys. Judging from the comments, I was right - romance readers and writers love our bad boys. Bad boy characters are appealing on a variety of levels. They’re highly sexual, they thrive on challenges, including women who challenge them, they don’t run from a fight, and in a great romance, they harbor a protectiveness for the heroine that brings out the best in the man.

But what about the woman who inspires a bad boy to be a man? What makes a heroine who tames a bad boy, and does it in a way that doesn’t make me go, “Yeah, right, that would happen…what was the author thinking?”

A bad boy’s heroine is just as sexual a creature as he is. Often, though, she doesn’t know it yet. Grease’s heroine, Sandy, certainly wasn’t attracted to Danny Zuko for his brains. She may have been innocent, but there was an inner Rizzo, waiting to get out – in fact, Sandy might have been more sexual than Rizzo, the outwardly worldly character. She certainly seemed to know what she wanted with more clarity than the bedhopping leader of the Pink Ladies. In my novel, Destiny, Emma is a romance-loving innocent, longing to be swept away by a brooding lover like Heathcliff or Mr. Rochester. Her abduction changes all that. Her captor, Jack Travis, soon teaches her that an alpha-male with a heart is hard to resist, and that surrender to her heart can be very satisfying.

A bad boy’s heroine might have buried her desire, but it’s still there, presenting a challenge to the hero to bring it to the surface. In Claiming the Courtesan, the heroine, Verity, is noted as the most desirable courtesan in her circles, but she’s actually turned off her own responses. For Verity, sex is a skill, not a pleasure. Until Kylemore unleashes the power of love and with it, the pleasure of her sexual interactions with the hero.

Bad boys love challenges. Physical challenges. And intellectual challenges. Even Danny Zuko, who certainly wasn’t known for his brains, fell for the smart girl. At their ideal, the bad boy is as proficient mentally as he is physically. In Sherlock Holmes, Robert Downey, Jr. essays a character who’s athletic and brilliant, so it comes as no surprise that the love of his life, Irene Adler, is as brilliant as he is. The fact that she’s chosen to put her brains to use as a thief rather than a crime-solver seems a natural pairing of opposites. A bad boy wants a girl who will match wits with him and spar with him, not simply nod in meek agreement.

To be believable, a bad boy’s heroine has to be strong, gutsy, and ultimately devoted to the hero. In Destiny, Emma Davenport, a powerful senator’s daughter, has lived a sheltered life, but that doesn’t stop her from running away to a forbidden marriage, matching wits with the arrogant captor who snatches her from a train, and ultimately, saving his life. Emma’s strong will, keen intelligence, ingenuity, and guts are irresistible to the alpha hero. Like Emma, Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark is courageous, strong willed enough to challenge the swashbuckling Indiana Jones, and smart enough to challenge his intellect when he’s morphed back into Dr. Henry Jones, the professor. She doesn’t rely on her beauty or flaunting her sexuality, but there’s no doubt of the chemistry between the hero and heroine.

Romance is filled with feisty heroines and the bad boys who love them. One of my favorite new heroines is Catherine Marks, Leo’s love in Lisa Kleypas’ wonderful Married by Morning. Her sharp wit intrigues bad boy Leo long before he realizes she’s actually a beauty who’s taken great pains to drab down her looks. Catriona Kincaid in Teresa Medeiros’ Some Like It Wicked is a perfect heroine for dissolute former war hero Simon as she challenges him and inspires him to be the man he’s meant to be.

Who are some of your favorite women who tame bad boys from romance and film? What do you love most about them? I’ll choose a random commenter to win a pdf of Destiny.

A Rose By Any Other Name

A Rose By Any Other Name

When starting a story, one of the things I really put thought into is the names of my characters. And when writing a historical, you want to get names that fit your characters as well as give some authenticity to the time period you’re writing.

Always consider the impact of your characters names. Not just any name will do. Why do you thing Marion Morrison changed his name when he became an actor? For example, a friend of mine was writing a contemporary with a heroine who was supposed to be somewhat of a free spirit, unorganized and dressed in lots of bead and flowing skirts. Now there is nothing wrong with this, but she was having trouble making the character work. She had named the character Taylor. As I pointed out to her, the name and its conations did not match the heroine she was trying to create. So once she changed the characters name to something for in line with the actual character she was creating, the story went much better.

(By the way, the name Marion Morrison used when he started acting in cowboy movies was John Wayne.)

In one of my favorite author’s one book has a heroine named Niema. Now, how do I pronounce that (even if it’s only in my head)? Neigh-ma? Knee-I-ma? Nay-ma? And by the time the author gave me the information on how to pronounce it, I’d been doing it wrong, so every time thereafter, I stumbled over this name, having to think if I was reading/pronouncing it correctly.

So if you character has an unusual name, or one where the spelling doesn’t match the pronunciation, be sure to give the reader a clue as to how they pronounce their name as soon a possible. For example, if your medieval heroine’s name is spelled Brighid (after St. Brighid) you have to let your reader know that it’s most to be pronounced as ‘Bride’. This traditional spelling of Brighid has morphed into the modern Brigitte.

If you’re writing historicals you probably won’t want to call your heroine Tiffany. And while the name Mildred is a nice historical name you might not want to use that either as it will not strike the modern reader’s ear with any harmony. So you have to find that nice middle ground where the name is historical, but easy on the modern ear.

Another thing to remember that many names that are given to females today were traditionally and historically male names. Today a person with the name Ashley is most likely female, but just over a hundred years ago it was a man’s name (remember who Scarlett was in love with at the beginning of Gone With the Wind?). The same goes for the names Stacy, Tracy, Courtney, Terry, Leslie, Shirley. Even in England today you can find men named Beverly and Evelyn.

When I start a story, I look at the character’s background and see if there is a clue there for the name. While writing KENTUCKY GREEN, I knew my hero grew up on the Kentucky frontier. I wanted him to have all the skills of a frontiersman (which would be used in the story), and knew that his father was a half-breed. When you think of the Kentucky frontier the name Daniel Boone always comes to mind. And Boone was known for not being prejudiced against Indians. So I made my hero’s father a hunting companion of Daniel Boone, and so, following the fashion of that time, the hero was named after his father’s friend, and became Dan.

I did push my luck with the heroine in KENTUCKY GREEN, as her name is April (the month she was born). But in the story April functions as spring/light that helps rescue Dan from his dark/winter personality.

If you are lucky, your characters will tell you what their name is. When doing brainstorming on the plot and characters, one of the things you can do is a first person biography or interview of your character. I used this technique when working on COLORADO SILVER, COLORADO GOLD for the hero. The hero ‘told’ me “My name is Samuel Jacob Westmoreland. My mother died when I was born and my father never forgave me for it.” So since his father’s name was Sam also, my hero became known a Wes. The origins of his name are vital to the story and how he relates to the heroine.

For my heroine, I wanted to name her Julie, which wasn’t too likely, so I made her father a fan of Shakespeare, and her name is really Juliette, and her sister Cordelia after Shakespeare characters.

In my WIP (work in progress), the hero’s goal is to reclaim the ranch that his family lost when rustlers killed his father. So for his name, I chose Clay which relates to the earth, which is his goal.

Who are some of your favorite characters? Do you like to read stories where the character have your name? Or the hero your brother’s name?

Terry
(and yes, this is my real first name, my dad wouldn’t even spring for Teresa)

Getting to know your characters.

Sound like a fun topic? Well sometimes it is and sometimes you have tight-lipped, arrogant, pain-in-the-arse heroes who won’t play fair.

So how do you get them to talk?

Bribe them. Talk dirty to them. Tempt them with chocolate. But whatever you do, don’t ask them about their mothers. Especially the alpha male. He is particularly protective of his personal relationship with his mother. She might have ignored him. Or maybe she demanded too much of him. Regardless of your hero’s “Mommy issues” you must dig deep to find what makes him tick.
When I start a book, the first thing I do is figure out who my characters are. I like to start with the hero. This was the starting point for the hero in my upcoming release, HIGHLAND DRAGON.
Laird Calin MacLeod—28, Dark blond shoulder length hair with braids at the temples; amber eyes.

Goals:
-To avenge his father’s death.
-Fulfill the vow his father made to Akira’s mother to protect her.
-To unite the clans for purposes of protecting the Isles.

Something else I must know before I start a book is how my hero will curse. For example will he say “God’s hooks!” or “Jesu!” or “Damn the saints!” Maybe he says all three, but there has to be a reason why he says this. If he says “Damn the saints” is it because his grandfather taught him all about the saints when he was growing up?

Another expletive I have to figure out is what will he say when he stubs his toe. In other words, what does he say for “ouch”? Since my hero is Scottish he might say “Ack” or “Och” or “Bluidy hell!”

What does he say when he’s frustrated. A contemporary heroine might say, “Oh my God!” But not my 16th century hero. He might say “Ouish!”

Some of these words you can make up. Some of them you can research. I’ve found some really entertaining lists. This is one of my favorites: http://scribe.faire.net/faqs/Glossary.htm

Last, but certainly not least, I have to find a picture of all my characters prior to their entry into my story. This collage was my vision for HIGHLAND DRAGON.

So how do you develop your characters? What are some attributes you have to know before you can get started?

Kimberly
________________________________________
HIGHLAND DRAGON ~ Oct. 2009
4-STARS from RT Book Reviews "This is a tale to cherish."
www.kimberlykillion.com

What's in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" - William Shakespeare

Names. What you choose to name your hero and heroine can often make or break a story. It can inspire the writer or inhibit her. If the name is a turn-off to readers, they might not pick up the book to read. Yet, if you choose too modern a name for a historical character, your readers will laugh at your ignorance.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism since the late 1990s. One of the first choices any newbie makes is to choose their name. The name reflects the culture and personality you hope to project to the world.

It was as I was trying to name myself that I first felt sympathy and empathy for expectant parents. So many names to choose from and the name is so important. The nickname shouldn't be horrible but even though I was careful, people persist in shortening my first name, Francesca. Anyone out there calls me Frannie and you're dead. Seriously. No offense to the Fran and Frannies of the world , but Francesca is my name, not Fran or Frannie. But I digress. Choosing a name. It took me awhile but I found a first name I liked and use it both as my SCA name and my pen name.

I ran into the same issue when choosing character names. Fortunately, I know an SCA herald or two who can recommend good books and Web sites which offer excellent documentation for medieval names. My SCA persona isn't English but when I knew my stories would be set in Medieval England, I asked an SCA herald for books to document names. He suggested two and I swear by them both.

The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names by E.G. Withycombe is WONDERFUL. It documents when specific first names came into common usage in England. So not only is it useful to those of us who write stories set in the Middle Ages, but it provides origin information for later time periods too.

When I was choosing a name for my heroine, I wanted to choose the name Verity because it means "truth." Well, I looked up the name in Withycombe and ran into a brick wall. One line, and I quote "Verity (f.): used as a christian name since 17th C." I thought, "well, crap." Then I contacted the herald that recommended the book and pretty much begged him to offer me a plausible out. Thankfully he did. He said it would have been unusual BUT a parent might have named their child Vérité...maybe. (Which probably meant - no they wouldn't have, but I was desperate cause I wanted her to be named Verity, darn it!!) So Vérité she became. I just love artistic license, don't you?

BUT, I can document my hero's name. Eaduin is an older spelling of Edwin. My hero had an Anglo-Saxon father and a Norman mother. Eaduin is Old English - well Eadwine is. It was also the name of the first Christian king of Northumberland. The spelling "Eaduin" can be found in the Domesday Book, according to Withycombe. So this worked great. Of course, Eaduin was actually the villain in another book (which will never see the light of day). After I created him, he convinced me he was merely misunderstood and NOT a villain. I picked the name Edwin because I was sure it was a name I would NEVER name one of my hero's. Eaduin had the last laugh and he's a hero now. He can be very seductive when he wants to be.

The other book I highly recommend for English name research is: A Dictionary of English Surnames by P.H. Reaney. I have the 3rd edition which was updated by R.M. Wilson. If you're a name geek, this book is fascinating reading. My heroine's last name is - by modern spelling - Savigny. This entry provided variations and de Sauigni was documented to the Domesday Book. Score!

I have to admit, once I'd picked out my first names, I just read through the surnames book and looked for names that sounded good together. I was happy with what I found.

Finding names for other cultures can be a challenge, but you can try searching at the Web site for The Academy of Saint Gabriel which is a group of around 50 volunteers who research medieval names primarily for the SCA. Now, you may not be interested in the SCA (which is fine) but let me tell you SCA researchers are sticklers for authenticity and they are also obsessive about excellent documentation. So chances are if you stumble across an SCA site, you will probably find good information. By all means, cross-check your information so you can find things in more than one resource, but an SCA related Web page isn't a bad place to start your research. Look for bibliography information and you'll have located a gold mine.

Now go forth, and name characters! What are your favorite names for heroes and heroines? What names do you hate? Share your adventures in naming!

Note: Just found out this morning (4/20/09) that Seeking Truth will be released by Ellora's Cave on May 29, 2009. Wooo Hooo!