My Lovers

I’m in the midst of writing a romantic scene for my book. (No, I’m not going to tell you who it’s with — that would ruin the surprise! This is part of the fun of not writing in the genre of romance — you guys have to play guessing games about my heroine’s love interests.)

Though part of the fun of writing anyhting romantic is the possibility of living vicariously through one’s own creations, even if just for the span of the book/chapter/scene. Gena Showalter is currently discussing bad boys and their endless appeal on her blog. I’m not so much into bad boys. I remember one of my first TARA meetings talked about hero archetypes (I believe using Tami Cowden’s list). The idea was to look over your favorite books/movies, etc. and see which type you as an author, were drawn to over and over again. At the time, I’d only written two books, but now that I’ve written more, I can see my pattern emerging (and it’s not a shocker, considering who I’ve been dating for the last four years). Here’s Tami’s list, with asterisks next to the ones I’ve written.

1. Chief
2. Bad Boy
3. Best Friend *
4. Charmer *
5. Lost Soul
6. Professor
7. Swashbuckler **
8. Warrior *

I think that all of my Swashbucklers have the element of the Charmer in them, and my Warrior, Vincent, was definitely a bit of a Swashbuckler. Ethan, my Charmer, never had a chance for much action, though I’m sure he would have taken to it in a heartbeat. Nate, my Best Friend, was part of my trial book, and so I don’t think he really counts. Jonathan of course, is your standard Swashbuckler (she calls him a pirate, throughout) and of course, a consummate Charmer to boot. I’ve got a Professor in the back of my head, and think that in general, I want all of my heroes to be Indiana Jones, so they’re all going to be a steady mix of Charmer and Professor all wrapped up in a big hunk of Swashbuckler.

But that’s romance, where the characters tend to be larger than life. Here, they are much less so. Amy has a lot of potential love interests, but what is interesting about them is that they aren’t all heroes — that is, I can write a bad boy who is actually a bad boy, not a hero masquearding as one. This is a very different conceit than what one follows in a romance, IMO. It’s been rather fun to work with. Right now, the most heroic of the characters is a quintessential Best Friend — to the heroine, though I think if he were to be the hero of his own story, he’d be a Professor. Interesting, how the archetype of a character can change depending on who it is he’s relating to.

What archetypes do you feel drawn towards writing (doesn’t have to be your heroes)?