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Fictional Friday: Top Five Swoon-Worthy Heroes

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What better way to start out my Fictional Friday series than with my top five swoon-worthy heroes of 2012? This doesn’t mean the book necessarily came out in 2012, though most did, just that I read it in 2012. Some of them may be favorites or ones that you missed the first time around. In case this little taste whets your appetite for more and you must continue reading, just click on the cover to go to its Amazon e-book page.

One of my favorite parts of any romance novel is the first time the hero and heroine meet. So I’ve decided to give you a little snippet of that meet, cute or otherwise, from the heroine’s point of view.

ToWinHerHeartLevi Grant – To Win Her Heart, by Karen Witemeyer

This book is the source of contention between me and one of my critique partners. I say that Short Straw Bride is KW’s best book to date; she says To Win Her Heart. If we’re judging purely on heroic appeal, though, TWHH wins out. A burly, former prize-fighting blacksmith who woos his lady librarian with love letters inserted into library books? Sign me up.

First Impression:

At some level, her mind registered the preacher’s voice as he made the formal introduction, but the rest of her attention remained riveted on the giant in Emma’s parlor. If the mythical Hercules had been inspired by an actual person, this man would surely be a descendant. She’d never seen such broad shoulders.

Her gaze moved from his shoulders to his face. Square jaw. Firm lips. Straight nose, barring the bump on the bridge, where it looked like it had been broken. Everything about him was hard– except his eyes. Vulnerability shone in their gray depths.

…Good heavens. How was she supposed to conduct an interview with a man whose size was so startling she could scarcely manage a coherent greeting?

Nick Farnsworth – Stealing Adda, by Tamara LeighStealingAdda

I don’t care if this was first published in 2006. I was going to fit this into a blog post. And probably more than once, considering this is one of my “happy books.” When I’ve had a bad day, when I think that I’m crazy to have gotten into the publishing business in the first place, I read this book. Romance writer pursued by gorgeous, distinguished publishing exec? Well, a girl can dream, right? Even if said girl is married with children? Please don’t think any less of me. When you read the book, you’ll be right there with me.

First Impression:

Satisfied, I resume my seat, but as I look toward Noelle, a man sitting alone at one of three coveted tables against the windows catches my eye. He’s staring at me, though not with disgust. Amusement? I narrow my gaze on his mouth, the corners of which are tilted. And there’s a sparkle in his deeply dark eyes. He’s laughing at me!

…The man raises his eyebrows and smiles, revealing brilliant white teeth and a left cleft dimple.

My heart lurches, and I blink as attraction punches me in the gut. Not that he’s young and flawlessly gorgeous like Jake, but he’s a breath-stopper. Probably tops six feet, broad shouldered, jet black hair silvered at the temples, early forties.

Resisting the urge to check his left hand, I avert my gaze. It’s been a long time since any man turned my insides to goo, and why this particular one does, I don’t understand.

Arrogant jerk.

MyStubbornHeartMatt Jarreau – My Stubborn Heart, by Becky Wade

Brooding, wounded former hockey star still grieving over his dead wife. Strong, silent type that turns all the ladies’ knees to jello. Enough said.

First Impression:

… Matt had a fascinating face. Hard, handsome, and grave. A clean jawline and a firm, serious mouth. His nose looked like it had been broken and expertly reset, and faint scars marked the skin below his bottom lip and above an eyebrow. He had dark brown hair, slightly overlong so it curled out from under the back of his hat.

What took Kate’s breath away, though, were his eyes. They were dark, dark, dark, almost liquid brown. Thoughtful, long-lashed, shielded, and somehow…somehow wounded. All the more startling for being set in such a masculine face.

… She stood there feeling vaguely idiotic, holding her coffee mug and finding it hard to look away from him. It was as if something within her had been sleeping and now—the longer she was near him—the more it was waking, becoming alert, jangling. That something seemed to be saying, It’s you.

Finally.

William McCabe/Pierre de Richelieu – Glamorous Illusions, by Lisa T. Bergren

GlamorousIllusions

You may be wondering why I chose two “heroes” from this book. Well, Will is clearly the hero we should be rooting for: handsome, principled, and just all around good guy wanting to do the right thing. Plus, the sparks between him and Cora almost catch the pages on fire. But Pierre… well, I may not know whether trust Pierre, but I certainly fell for him all the same. I mean, a romantic French nobleman. What’s there not to like? And I suspect that’s exactly what LTB wanted to happen. I’d feel a little manipulated if the book wasn’t so absolutely delicious.

First Impression (Will):

I was taking in the sparse leaves, noting how sickly they appeared, as if the giant was suffering, struggling to hold on against the ravages of time and smelter smoke, when I saw the dark-haired young man sitting beneath it. He leaned against the big trunk, eyes closed as if dreaming he were in the midst of a forest. He had fine features—a strong jaw, well-defined eyes and cheeks, wide shoulders. One hand rested on his thigh, and in the other hand, pressed against his chest, was a leather-bound book.

I finally remembered myself and lurched backward, praying he hadn’t opened his eyes, hadn’t seen me staring.

Who was he? A brother? Were they not all at the lake, taking their leisure? A servant? He was too finely dressed for that. My heart was hammering in my chest. But why? Did I not have the right to look out my window?

…I edged around the corner to steal another peek…

But the young man was gone.

First Impression (Pierre):

He was frightfully handsome, but not in the rugged manner of Will. Elegant, slim, with a face that was almost pretty. Just a couple inches taller than I, with sandy hair and the most beautiful green eyes.

“And so you now know that my name is Pierre de Richelieu,” he said, drawing a hand to his chest. He cocked his head and flashed me a smile. “But may I ask yours?”

“Certainly. It’s Cora…Kensington.”

… He offered his hand, and I placed my gloved one in it. He lifted it to his lips and kissed my knuckles. I could feel the heat of his lips and breath through the cloth. A shiver of delight ran up my arm and down my back. His eyes had laugh lines at the corners. And he arched a brow up as though he had all kinds of secrets he was more than ready to share.

Now that I’ve shared mine, who’s your favorite fictional hero and why?

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In Whose Image?

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Fingers_Crossed
Photo by cinnamon_girl via Flickr

I like to knit.

There, I said it. I could follow up that statement with a list of celebrities who have also jumped on the knitting bandwagon (Christina Hendricks, David Arquette, Katherine Heigl, Dakota Fanning, Julia Roberts) or talk about the health benefits of knitting (inspires the “relaxation response,” relieves depression, minimizes stress).

Really, though, I just like making stuff. I like the pretty colors of yarn. I like doing something that not many people these days know how to do.

It’s just that no matter how I phrase it, knitting is not a cool pastime. It ranks right up there with making little Dungeons & Dragons models in the basement. Maybe you enjoy doing it, but you sure don’t admit it. Knitting doesn’t fit with my image of the romance writer who needs a separate room to store her high-heel collection.

That’s the key, isn’t it? Image. How I want to be perceived by my family, friends, readers, colleagues.

Maintaining an image is not necessarily a bad thing. In any sort of business, you want to present yourself well. As Christians, we don’t want to exhibit any behavior that would reflect badly on our Lord and Savior.

But when the worry about image makes us act less than authentically, it’s a problem.

In today’s social media world, where we connect with others across long distances in sound-bite statements, it’s easy to craft our images however we want. I can be the perfect wife, who makes gourmet meals every night and manages to look pretty when my husband comes home from work. I can be the perfect mother, whose school crafts put Pinterest to shame. The perfect businesswoman, who balances her work and her home life without ever having a hair out of place.

The reality is much different. Sometimes I get irritated that I have to stop in the middle of writing a scene to cook dinner. Sometimes I yell at my kids when they don’t deserve it. Sometimes I look at my blessed life, my loving family, my burgeoning writing career, and wonder, “Why in the world did I think I could juggle this all?”

I’m human. I’m fallible. As a Christian, I could pretend that I’m above all those things, because they are not the fruit of a spirit-filled life. I can say that I don’t share my failings because I don’t want to cause my sister or brother to stumble.

In reality, though, I just don’t want to admit that I’m not perfect. I don’t want the black mark on my pride. I don’t want people whom I respect to think less of me.

My pride might lead me to cheat those around me from seeing the amazing things that God can accomplish.

I’m not successful because of me, I’m successful because of Him. My children are not well-behaved because of my incredible parenting skills, but because of my willingness to pray for them (and pray that my mistakes don’t screw them up too badly). I don’t have a blessed life because I deserve one, but because God loves me and has given me the desires of my heart.

Without the battle, there can be no victory. Without the storm, there can be no rainbow. Without brokenness, there can be no healing.

Next time I’m tempted to create myself in my own perfect, imaginary image, I’ll remind myself that I should instead reflect an image of Christ’s grace and provision.

And that I should remember to take the lasagna out of the freezer for dinner.

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How Michael Hyatt Changed My Social Media Life

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twitteronblack
Photo by eldh via Flickr

I hate social networking. I love social networking.

Everyone generally falls into one of these two categories. When it comes to social media, there seems to be no middle ground.

I’ll fully admit, with the exception of chatting with friends on Facebook, I wasn’t the most enthusiastic adopter of the whole social media thing. Facebook? Alright. Nice to reconnect with friends from high school and college and former jobs. LinkedIn? I guess I can see the value. Twitter? Like pulling teeth.

Then I came across this article by Michael Hyatt: How to Become a Twitter Ninja in Less Than 30 Minutes A Day.

Suddenly, the whole Twittersphere made sense. I’ve heard Twitter compared to a conversation with a neighbor over the back fence, but it seemed… well, a bit like talking to myself. And not only talking to myself, but spamming myself. I don’t have time to get on Twitter all day long and space out my tweets. I generally have a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes on lunch break (when I take one), but who wants to read five tweets in a row from me?

Enter the miracle that is Buffer. (I was already using Hootsuite and Feedly.) Now I can comb through the few dozen blogs I follow, looking for interesting subjects to post or tweet, and schedule them to be distributed throughout the day. I can also schedule the distribution of my blog posts when they’re most likely to be seen.

Have I suddenly experienced a surge of followers from my new posting schedule? Nope. I haven’t been using it that long. But now I can say that the whole Twitter thing is slightly less mysterious, and the social media part of platform-building is slightly less stressful. And for someone who once hated social networking with a passion reserved only for creepy-crawlies and cardiovascular exercise, that’s a big change indeed.

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The Next Big Thing

My friend, the wonderful and talented RJ Larson, tagged me in The Next Big Thing blog hop! If you didn’t come here from there, be sure to stop by and enter her giveaway for your choice  of three amazing books!

The rules of the blog hop:

  1. Mention who tagged you, and link to their post.
  2. Give the rules.
  3. Answer the ten questions below.
  4. Link to at least 3 other people.

So here goes nothin’…

What is the working title of your book?iStock_000002050808XSmall

The Path of the Faithful. It’s the first book in the SONG OF SEARE series, YA fantasy. I’m not sure if either title is going to stick yet.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I’ve always been a fan of Celtic fantasy, but there isn’t much of it in the inspirational market. I wanted to write something set in ancient Ireland, but without the pagan slant that most books of this type have.

What genre does your book fall under?

Traditional fantasy, I think. It’s being marketed as young adult, but it’s really more of a crossover novel.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

AlexPettyfer
Alex Pettyfer

Hmm, this is a tough one. I’m not as up on the Under-25 Hollywood set as I was when I was actually under-25 myself, so this took some digging.

I think Alex Pettyfer has the right look to play my young musician/warrior, Conor, and he’s actually quite a good actor!

AutumnReeser
Autumn Reeser

Autumn Reeser would make a beautiful Aine (pronounced Anya). She’s Conor’s soul mate, and she has some pretty awesome abilities of her own.

And just for fun, I pick Robbie Amell to play Eoghan (pronounced Owen), Conor’s best friend and mentor. Every YA novel needs two cuties, right? I loved writing this character so much I gave him a starring role in books 2 and 3.

Robbie Amell
Robbie Amell

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I’m supposed to have a one-sentence synopsis of my book? Oops. The story is about a young man caught between his pagan clan and a Balian (Christian) warrior-brotherhood, both of whom want to use him for their own ends. The log line is “How do you find your own path when your life has been orchestrated from before your birth?”

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

This was sold by my agent. It is due out from NavPress in May 2014.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

A thousand years. No, it probably took me a year to write the first draft, considering my older son was only a few months old at the time, and we were in the middle of a cross-country move. I put it away in a drawer and started revising it four years later when my younger son was about the same age. I must find something about sleep deprivation inspirational. It took me another six months to get it from 138,000 words (which is not atypical for a general market fantasy) down to the 106,000 it is now. That was painful. Really painful.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

There are definitely some similarities in theme if not setting between this and RJ Larson’s Prophet. I think my books are most like Juliet Marillier’s, a wonderful Celtic fantasy writer who sets her books in the same time period. She is a druid, though, so she takes a pagan perspective, compared to my Christian one.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I have absolutely no idea! God is fully responsible for the fact it’s inspirational, though. I never thought I would write for the Christian market, but once I was half through the first draft, I felt like the story had no soul. God pretty clearly showed me it needed the spiritual aspect, which became the main point of the story: being faithful to your calling, no matter what others might say.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

To quote The Princess Bride, it’s got “fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…” Okay, maybe not giants, and the monsters are more of the creepy demon faerie sort, but it’s got lots of action, romance, and magic. There’s something for everyone.

Thank you for visiting! Now hop on over to the next stops on the tour next week, three good friends and wonderful up-and-coming writers:

Jill Cooper

Eisley Jacobs

Amy Millsap Matayo

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