As my crit partners well know, I love to write steamy sex. I love to read it too, and I’ve found that Harlequin Blaze books are the perfect bite-sized portion of my favorite types of stories. Smart heroines, fun and/or compelling plots and of course, hot heroes! Today, author Marie Donovan is going to share with RU which men make the cut for hero status in her Blaze books.
She’ll also be giving one or two copies of her September release, HER LAST LINE OF DEFENSE, in reward for the most interesting comment(s) on her post today!
Here’s Marie!
I have a secret to confess: in many of my books, I like writing the heroes better. I don’t know what that says about my psyche, but I can definitely trace it back to hanging around the guys when I was growing up. The upside of having male friends is that you learn what they really think. The downside is—you learn what they really think.
Mostly, they think about sex. But you also hear how a guy talks about his new girlfriend as if she were Wonder Woman, Cinderella and Miss September all rolled into one. You also see how he cries, gets drunk, or both when she breaks his heart.
Blaze heroes are like the guys I know, just ramped up (and pumped up) for fictional purposes. So what makes a Blaze hero? I’ve come up with the Four S’s.
The first S is surprisingly not Sexy, it’s Strong. My editor Kathryn Lye says, “He has to be strong, an equal match for our bold, yet still feminine hero.” Blaze heroines are never wimps waiting around for someone to rescue them. In many books, they wind up rescuing the hero.
In my September Blaze HER LAST LINE OF DEFENSE, Cajun Luc Boudreau is a rough, tough, in-the-buff Green Beret who has survived danger after danger, but is reluctant to give in to his growing affection for Claire Cook, a congressman’s daughter. After completing Luc’s outdoor swamp survival training, Claire realizes her own strength and Luc is the one who needs to match her courage.
Blaze author Tawny Weber (FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME, 9/09) agrees. “The hero has to be able to appreciate how sexy, strong and adventurous that heroine is. And then add a little extra sex, strength and adventure to the mix.”
And we come to our second S—Sexy. Blazes are novels of sexual adventure, self-discovery and love. The Blaze hero is a fantasy man, gorgeous, buff and mind-blowingly awesome in bed. And against a tree. And in a tent. And any place where the mood strikes. Blaze heroes are incredibly selfless in matters of sex, putting the heroine first, and second and sometimes third before they get their chance for satisfaction.
Because life (and the plot) must go on, the hero and heroine can’t spend all their time in bed. Although we’ve all known the gorgeous hunk with rocks between his ears, he is not a Blaze hero, so Smart comes into play. Remember, this is a man who is the heroine’s soulmate, not boy-toy. He has to be her intellectual equal as well.
Finally, he must be Sweet. Not in the sense of, “Golly, I love your hair-do,” but in the sense of doing kind things for the heroine. In the case of Green Beret Luc, he shows his affection by making sure nothing harms Claire. A poisonous spider crawls into her boot and he saves her from a painful bite. Her feet are bloody and blistered as he carries her into camp and cares for her wounds. My editor Kathryn calls it “an underlying vulnerability and sensitivity”.
I hope you’ve learned more about crafting a mouth-watering Blaze hero. What do you think? What would you like to see in future Blaze heroes?
A big thanks to Adrienne, Tracey and Kelsey for inviting me to participate in their wonderful blog.
Happy reading!
Marie
Be sure to join us again Friday when the fabulous Margie Lawson discusses New York Times caliber writing and the EDITS system.
For award-winning author Marie Donovan, writing romance is a dream come true after so many years of avid reading. She got her fill of tragedies and unhappy endings by majoring in opera/vocal performance and Spanish literature and she devoured romances whenever she could.
Marie worked for a large suburban public library district for ten years as both a cataloguer and a bilingual Spanish storytime presenter. She graduated magna cum laude with two bachelor degrees from a Midwestern liberal arts university and speaks six languages. When not writing, she enjoys reading, gardening, and yoga.
Marie loves to hear from her readers. To find out more about her smart, sexy, stirring romances, please visit www.mariedonovan.com or email her at marie@mariedonovan.com.
Kelsey's serving up bite-sized morsels for your noggin on her new 
Good morning, Marie!
Thank you for an awesome look at he Blaze hero. I love it when an author can sum up parts of their writing like that. If someone asked me to analyze my writing, I’d give them a great big “uhhh” look. LOL
Six languages, Marie? I can’t even wrap my mind around one. Isn’t that sad?
Congrats on your September release and awesome RT review.
Take care, Tracey
Posted by TraceyDevlyn | September 23, 2009, 5:39 amWelcome to RU, Marie!
What’s your process for brainstorming a “Blaze-worthy” hero? And about how long does it take you to write and edit one of your Blaze stories?
Thanks for being here today!
Kelsey
Posted by Kelsey Browning | September 23, 2009, 6:48 amHi Marie. Thank you for being with us today. I love the four S’s and it occurs to me that they can be used on any hero. I’m going to put those S’s to work in my new story. Great stuff!
Posted by Adrienne Giordano | September 23, 2009, 8:36 amHi Marie!
Thanks for posting – great read! Do you think of the hero first and then in the qualities? or think of the qualities and invent a hero from there?
carrie
Posted by carrie | September 23, 2009, 10:09 amHow about a 5th S, sensitive? Not typically what you think of when you think Blaze hero. But then, it’s also not who he really is. He’s decided that being Mr. Strong Sexy Smart and Sweet hasn’t exactly worked for him, so he might as well try Mr. Sensitive. Except he finds it hard to be someone he’s really not, especially when he bumps up against a woman who says she wants Sensitive but acts like she wants the 4 S’s.
I don’t read Blaze a whole lot, but when I do, I usually enjoy the stories. Leslie Kelly, Julie Leto, Wendy Etherington, Stephanie Bond, and Brenda Jackson are some of my fave authors in the line.
Posted by PatriciaW | September 23, 2009, 12:30 pmHi Tracey,
Believe me, I don’t analyze my writing as I go along. I just came up with these after writing seven of them, plus asking my editor and author friends. I find that too much analysis before I finish tends to suck the fun out of writing.
Marie
Posted by Marie Donovan | September 23, 2009, 5:17 pmHi Kelsey,
A lot of my hero ideas just come out of my head but to refine them I use The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines by Cowden et al. It deals in archetypes with specific examples from literature and movies. I also do some thinking about, “What would be the worst thing to happen to him?” and “What would be the best thing?” Often the answer to both is “Fall in Love”
.
As for time, I usually write a thorough first draft within a few months and edit with my editor’s comments for a couple weeks. I put *** in the story if I need to fill in the blanks or look something up later so I can avoid getting distracted with research if the words are coming well. I know some authors do extremely bare first drafts but I don’t like to keep going back over scenes. I bore easily
Marie Donovan
Marie
Posted by Marie Donovan | September 23, 2009, 5:25 pmHi Adrienne, Kelsey and Tracey,
Thank you all for inviting me to blog. It gave me a chance to put onto paper what lurks in my subconsious when I create heroes.
Marie
Posted by Marie Donovan | September 23, 2009, 5:26 pmCarrie,
I actually think of, what would be a cool place for my hero to come from? So far, I have Cuba, South Side of Chicago, Milwaukee, a farm in Wisconsin, a Greek island, Louisiana Cajun country and my next hero Beck(coming out in March) is an East Coast rich polo player.
I find that once I choose their background, many qualities spring up. For Luc the Cajun, his is loyalty to his large family (six sisters!) and loyalty to his fellow soldiers.
For Beckett Emery the polo player, his qualities are daring, charm and a bit of a playboy attitude.
I do a ton of research on what these men would wear, eat, drink, who their previous girlfriends would be like, etc. Languages come into play as well, since most of my heroes are at least bilingual.
Marie
Posted by Marie Donovan | September 23, 2009, 5:32 pmThanks for the info Marie! I just bought the Complete guide to heros etc as well, hoping to learn a ton more!
carrie
Posted by carrie | September 23, 2009, 11:04 pmPatricia,
You are right! Sensitive almost made it onto the list as the 5th S, but I thought it may have dovetailed too closely with Sweet. I do agree that Sensitive is essential, especially as the story moves along and they start to fall in love.
I also enjoy all those authors you mentioned. Stephanie Bond, by the way, is a genius when it comes to managing a writing career. I went to her 2-hour presentation at this past RWA conference and was just fascinated by all the things we writers can do to make a living as a writer. Number one–write for Harlequin because it is bread and butter money that keeps you going. She sells article reprints through Amazon Shorts. HIghly recommended!
Marie
Posted by Marie Donovan | September 23, 2009, 5:36 pmMarie -
Thanks so much for being with RU. We appreciate your time!
I’m hoping to start plotting a Blaze-type book this fall or spring and your hero thoughts will be very helpful!
Best,
Kelsey
Posted by Kelsey Browning | September 23, 2009, 10:37 pmThank you so much for having me at Romance University! Best of luck wiht your new book, Kelsey, and Carrie, I know you will enjoy the Heroes and Heroines book. It’s a fun read as well.
Carrie and PatriciaW, you each win a copy of Her Last Line of Defense! Please email your address to me at marie @ mariedonovan. com and I will send it out to you.
All the best in your reading and writing endeavors!
Marie Donovan
Posted by Marie Donovan | September 24, 2009, 12:10 pm