There
comes a time in every writer’s life when suddenly it feels like someone flicked
a switch. All kinds of writerly things
that had previously eluded me suddenly made sense. My “ah ha” moment came about at my first
romance writer’s conference when I crowded into a room with hundreds of other
hopefuls to soak up the wisdom of Jayne Ann Krentz.
Ms
Krentz spoke about the “basic core fantasies” which we now bandy about as
“tropes” but back then for me, her workshop was a defining moment. She listed about a dozen of these fantasies
that readers respond to on a primal level including but not limited to: vampires
long before they were a popular romance trope, secret babies, marriage of
convenience, sheikhs, and most notably for me the Cowboy Fantasy which, as she said, needs no explanation. The cowboy as hero is
simply etched deep in our psyche.
At
a recent Reader’s Group Launch Party I asked readers some of their all-time
favorite character traits for a western hero.
No surprise; the answers were all very similar. #1 was strong yet gentle. Closely followed by loyal, fair, brave yet
humble, tough yet gentle, always willing to help, seeker of justice and willing
to fight for it. These traits easily apply to both historical
and contemporary stories and, as a writer, are definitely something I aim for
with my cowboy heroes.
In
my Seven Brides for Seven Brothers series, I have my favorite
hero of the brothers. He’s cocky and
arrogant to start with and although the heroine puts him smartly in his place, not
everyone loves him as much as I do.
The
most popular, well-liked brother, hands down is Blake, the quiet, humble
one. Blake feels like an outcast, out of
step with the rest of them because he can’t learn to read. But the lengths he goes to for his lady! I have to admit there is one scene where even
I get a little misty-eyed every time I read it.
Blake truly is a hero.
IN BLAKE’S BRIDE STORM, THE HEROINE, HAS BEEN USING SOME INTERESTING TECHNIQUES TO HELP BLAKE TO READ DESPITE HIS DYSLEXIA, WHICH BACK THEN WAS REFERRED TO AS ‘WORD BLIND’. IN THIS SCENE SHE IS PREPARING TO LEAVE TOWN.
Blake pulled his hand out from behind
his back. “I wanted to give something to
you to take with you.”
“Scissors?” she said, puzzled.
“I made them special. So you can use your other hand in them.” He demonstrated, snipping the air between
them, before he tucked the fingers of her left hand into the holes. The metal of the scissors was warm from his
hand.
“Oh, my word,” she said. “They feel so good.”
“Made ’em smaller on account of you
have such little hands,” he said.
“They’re perfect. How did you know?”
“When we were touching the sand
letters. I was taking a picture in my
head of your hand on top of mine. That
way I knew how to make them the right size for you.”
Storm swallowed past the suddenly huge
lump in her throat. “No one has ever, in
my entire life, done anything so nice for me.”
He looked at her and nodded. “Funny.
I feel the same way about you and the letter learning.”
Once again, her eyes threatened to
fill with tears. There was a painful
weight on her chest. Her lungs felt
constricted, as if she couldn’t quite draw a deep enough breath.
“You okay?” He was watching her with
concern.
She gave her head a shake to clear her
thoughts and her vision. “Never better.”
“Good. Then I got something that needs said before
you go. Stay here, Storm. Marry me and be my wife.”
Dizzily, she swayed toward him, afraid
she might faint.
He caught her and held her. Safe.
If only she could stay and feel safe forever.
“I can’t.” Her words
came out in the barest of whispers. “I’m
already married.” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W8B7ZH1
The series books can be read as stand alone, or enjoyed in the order they were written. A free prequel is yours when you sign up for my VIP Readers Newsletter here. http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1
Website: www.kathleenlawless.com
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Love my cowboys, Kathleen! They're why I do what I do. Hugs and great excerpt!
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