Please welcome Kate Douglas!
What about those Beta heroes?
This is going to sound really dumb, but it wasn't until I read Victoria Dahl's wonderful contemporary romance, CRAZY FOR LOVE, that I realized what all four of my DemonSlayers stories have in common--first of all, an explanation. Victoria's hero Max is as neurotic as they come. He's OCD in a big way--worries about everything and has spent his entire life in denial, hiding the issues that truly rule his life. I LOVE Max Sullivan, because there's nothing I love more than a convoluted, multi-layered hero with issues, otherwise known as the beta hero.
And then it dawned on me--every single hero in all four of my DEMONSLAYERS stories is a beta! I'm so used to writing my alpha Chanku men in Wolf Tales that it didn't dawn on me that the men in these DemonSlayer stories were anything BUT alphas. Take Dax, my hero in DemonFire--he starts out as a demon who's too good for hell, gets kicked OUT of hell, aka the abyss, and ends up in the void. He's hired by the denizens of Paradise (aka heaven) to fight a demon invasion on earth, but before he can turn his demon powers on the bad guys, he gets hit with demonfire and a terrible curse that turns his powers against him. Throughout the entire story, it's not Dax saving the day, it's Eddy, the woman who rescues him from a demon possessed garden gnome. Does Dax fight Eddy for the right to be manly? No, because he accepts the fact she's tough and brave and knows more about earth than he does. And, by working together, they manage to survive everything the demon king throws at them. In fact, it’s Eddy who saves just about everyone, but did I recognize Dax as a beta? Nope. Missed it altogether. Go figure...
Then we get to HellFire--who's the hero? A Lemurian named Alton who's never fought a battle in his life. He ends up partnered with Ginny Jones, a tough woman of color with no fear at all and a secret that could very well change the course of the demon wars. Alton doesn't give Ginny a lot of grief--oh, he does try to protect her, but he quickly learns that Ginny is a lot tougher than she looks. She's smart and self-confident, and Alton hasn't got a chance. But he's most definitely not an alpha hero. No, he's a simple man, even though he's an immortal Lemurian, and he lets Ginny take the lead...though he really, REALLY wants to drive her car. And again, I thought I was writing the typical alpha male. Uh...nope. Not Alton.
The book that's coming out April 1 as a Kindle or Nook, and on April 5 in print, StarFire, has another beta hero. This one I kind of guessed, bu that’s because Dawson Buck is a nerd. No excuses--he knows he's a nerd. He's a veterinarian who prefers animals to people because they don't come with baggage. He's cute and sweet and his employees love to tease him because he believes in things--like the energy vortexes around Sedona, and Lemurians and demons. What they don't know is that he believes because he's seen them--in HellFire he's the one who comes up with a way to capture demons when they become nothing more than wraiths to escape--he sucks them up with his shop vacuum and freezes them in little baggies--demon cubes! In StarFire, he's asked to care for a badly injured Lemurian slave--one of the Forgotten Ones. Selyn has been so badly beaten that, had she been human, she would not have survived. But Lemurians are tough, and Dawson treats her injuries, and is drawn even deeper into the demon wars when he and Selyn end up deep within Lemuria fighting demonkind and helping to raise an army against the ungodly host. But Dawson always defers to Selyn's strength and intelligence, even as he's falling desperately in love with her. That alone is tearing him apart--she's immortal and he's not, so there's no point in loving her. Or is there? This story takes Dawson on the ride of his life, and I had a mental image of him blinking in wonder and astonishment at everything that happens to him.
I'm not going to say too much about CrystalFire, yet. :-) It comes out next fall, and this book will star the Lemurian philosopher Taron, and Willow, the will o' the wisp who was first introduced in DemonFire. Her body is gone and her consciousness trapped inside Bumper the dog, but there's a bit of a switch in the final story that ends up with Taron—and Willow as a lovely young woman—falling in love even as they are left to battle the demon king on their own. The fate of all worlds will depend on their success as the balance of good and evil comes closer to that final tipping point. All that is good is threatened to succumb to the power of evil. Or does it?
For now, I bring you StarFire and one of four of the sexiest beta heroes I can possibly imagine. Strong and loving, trustworthy and brave even when saddled with self-doubt and fear, they still come through in the end. I love all the levels of personality with these guys--they're smart and thoughtful, handsome and loving, and they love their women every bit as much as they respect their woman’s strength and intelligence. I just don't think it can get any better, ya know?
Of course, if you’re waiting on a good alpha, don’t forget that the final Wolf Tales book, Wolf Tales 12, releases at the end of June. I know you’re going to love this story! It answers all the questions you’ve had, and even some you might not have thought of. There’s a first chapter on my website if you’re a little bit curious.
Thanks, Laurie, for once again allowing me to hijack your blog! As always, I’ve got a couple of books to give away, though I’m NOT giving away a copy of StarFire. I really am hoping my readers will buy this book because I need to get the numbers up there. There’s a good chance that if StarFire does well, I’ll get to do my second generation series about the Chanku kids—I’m so anxious to write Lily and Alex and all the others as grown ups, but the publishing business is all about the numbers. (I am, however, giving two people who leave comments a chance to choose either DemonFire, HellFire or Nocturnal, or one of the newer Wolf Tales or Sexy Beast books)
Take care, all,
*Note make sure you add your email to the comment if you don't have it on your profile.
No comments:
Post a Comment