What kind of hero do you like?

It’s a new year and time for a new project. I’m starting to create a new series which means coming up with three heroes and three heroines. It’s one of the parts of writing I enjoy, but I have to take it one character at a time or else I’ll feel overwhelmed. I thought I’d share part of my process with y’all. Keep in mind, this is my method. Each of the lovely and talented ladies here at Craftie have their own and each one is different. There’s no right or wrong way to create a character to tell a Love Inspired story.

            A friend who’d just read one of my books asked if I drew the characters from people I know. I’m never quite sure how to answer because it’s yes and no. I don’t use real people in the sense that I incorporate all their personality. I do sometimes use small aspects of a friend’s personality. Things like, a fear of failure, a need to be right or in control. Sometimes it’s even a smaller point like a regret they might have had or a blind spot.

It all depends on the character and what the story is about. After a number of books I’ve realized I tend to write certain types of heroines and heroes. I’m sure that has to do with my own preferences and personality.

I have a book I rely on to help me create the right hero for the right story. It’s takes all the personality types and breaks them down into their various aspects. My heroes tend to fall into three types. The Best Friend— the guy who is dependable, protective and will stand by the heroine no matter what. The Wounded hero— emotionally scarred, closed off and brooding until the heroine comes along and shows him how to love. Then there’s the Charmer, though I don’t write him often  – the guy who thinks he has the world at his feet until he meets the heroine and realizes he has nothing without her love.

I must admit I’m not fond of the Alpha male hero. He’s usually too domineering and self-centered. And truth be told, men like that don’t change.

            So, first off, I know who my hero will be for the next book. He’s a chopper pilot who flies men out to the oil rigs in the Gulf each day. It’s a dangerous, risky job, but he’s a skilled pilot. Contrary to popular belief pilots by nature aren’t hot shot risk takers. They are level head, focused, calm in a crisis, and detail oriented. My guy got his training in the service, so he’s also disciplined. He’s a college grad but at heart he’s a blue collar kind of guy. I think his name will be Ben and he’s going to lean toward the wounded hero type. Something in his background has left a deep scar. Any ideas?

Now, what kind of heroine should he have? Not one that will smile sweetly and meekly stand at his side. She has to be the exact opposite. First rule of creating character, they have to be the worst possible choice for each other. Conflict is essential. Which mean the heroine I create should be impulsive, feisty, and a bit reckless. The kind that would drive him nuts.

            The next step is figuring out his past, things like his goal, motivation and conflict. He’s a single guy who suddenly finds himself the guardian of his three orphaned nieces and nephew. How does he feel about that? How does it force him to adjust to his future? How does his childhood and past wounds effect his attitude toward his new responsibilities? Does he willingly embrace the challenge or does he resent it and why?

            On another front he has a past love life I need to decide upon. Engaged? Divorced? Jilted at the altar. Fiancé killed or died?  Then there’s the things going on in his daily life. Is his job at risk? Is he working toward a new career or a change of some kind?. What in his world is being threatened? What in his life is at risk? Something in the community being threatened? Is there a threat to his guardianship?

            I don’t have all the answers to Ben’s story yet. I do have some things I use to help find them. A long character interview, a list of things I need to know before I can start the book, such as the turning point of the plot and the black moment – the point at which all seems lost and the reader says: How will they work this out?

             As you can see I have a lot of work to do on poor Ben. At the same time I need to be thinking about the heroine – no name as yet – and make sure they are clashing on every point. It’s really one of the fun parts of putting a book together.

So what kind of hero are you partial to? The Brooding wounded guy. The Charmer or the stalwart Best Friend? Leave a comment and let me know.

Lorraine

Watch for Her Handyman Hero available now.

The Wounded Hero

The Best Friend

The Charmer

Jean C. Gordon here with a new must buy from our Love Inspired Suspense authors. Just click on the cover to purchase it. And to learn more about this talented lady, click on her name.

Shattered Lullaby
by Laura Scott 

SAFEGUARDING THE BABY
Overhearing the murder of her sister, Lacy Germaine grabs her baby nephew and flees for their lives. But not before she's seen by the killer--who she's certain is her lawman brother-in-law. Now an instant mom on the run, Lacy will protect the baby at all costs, and she trusts nobody. Not even her rescuer, K-9 cop Matt Callahan. Despite the police alert issues for the missing little boy, Matt believes Lacy is innocent of kidnapping. Keeping them safe soon becomes his top priority. But no matter how deep they hide, danger finds them...until Matt is all that stands between the beautiful woman, the vulnerable baby and a desperate killer.

Sunday Scripture

Adorazione dei Magi by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1655, 
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio [PD-US]

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

in the days of King Herod, 
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 
"Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage."
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled, 
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, 
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, 
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel."
Then Herod called the magi secretly 
and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 
"Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word, 
that I too may go and do him homage."
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, 
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures 
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, 
they departed for their country by another way.

Matthew 2: 1-12

If you have prayer needs, please mention them in the comments section so we can join you in prayer. You do not need to include specific names or situations of a private nature, just say that you have a prayer request. The Lord knows your heart and the needs you have. It is a privilege and honor to pray with you and for you.

Got Cold? by Jo Ann Brown

One of the fun things about being a writer is that we live in the future...even if we write about the past. We live with the next deadline and the next publication date, which usually are nine to twelve months apart.
But we also live in different seasons.
The first time I realized how this could affect me as a person was when I was working on a book set in the Yukon gold rush in 1898. My characters were going to be living through multiple months in the far north, including the winter months. I was writing the book in the midst of an August "dog days" heat wave. My characters were facing a “three dog night.” Remember the rock group by that name with their song “Joy to the World?” I was amused to find out the source of that name – that the night was going to be so cold that someone needed three dogs cuddled up next to them to keep them from freezing to death. So my characters were freezing, and I was typing in a heat wave. How did I feel in my house with no air conditioning and sweat dripping down into my eyes?
Chilled!

How is that possible? It’s because an imagination is a wonderful gift...and a very powerful tool. It’s one I’ve always used to help me with climate control.
My sister and I, when we were young and living in northern New York, would tell each other on our walk to the bus each snowy, frigid winter morning how warm we were. We’d point out flowers we were passing, discuss the color and the scent and the bees and butterflies. Again, imagination pulled us out of the freezer and made us feel less cold. Or it could have been the laughter as we each tried to out-imagine the other.

As I write this, a cold front is diving toward the southeast, and there are whispers that it may snow in northern Florida. Blizzards are forecast for the northeast, and fountains are freezing in Charleston, SC. More than half the nation is shivering in below zero temps.
So what’s the solution?
It’s not like we can change the weather on a whim, so the only thing to do is think warm. How? By reading a book with a tropical/warm-weather setting or by creating something with our imaginations. Right now, I’m working on a project with a spring setting, and I’m reading a book set in Savannah, Georgia. Both allow me to think of sunny days and warm breezes and beautiful bushes weighted down with flowers or fresh fruit. It’s the reason we love to read beach books in the winter and tales of the hero and heroine on a ski slope while the heat index heads toward 100+ degrees in the middle of summer. I read as many books set at Christmas in July and August as I do in November and December.

I came up with the idea for An Amish Arrangement, set in January in northern New York in an imaginary version of the town where I grew up, in the middle of the summer. I've written Christmas stories in the spring and the summer...but never in the winter. In fact, my writing is always a season or two off, so I'm imagining warm weather during the cold and vice versa!




That’s why my advice to you as the temps head toward record lows is to get something hot and chocolate to drink (with whipped cream, of course),pick up a good book and let your imagination take you to spend a cold winter evening somewhere lusciously warm. After all, spring and warm weather have to return sometime...right?

FOMO, anyone?

Happy New Year!  I hope 2018 brings you joy and blessings.

I’m so glad to see 2017 in my rearview mirror.  Ha! I think I say that every year.

This past year I had some forced down time. I broke my wrist; it didn’t heal properly and required surgery.  For the past seven months and counting I have had one good hand (my left), a lot of pain and time to reflect on my life.

One of the things that struck me was I found myself suffering from FOMO.

ˈfōmō/ 

noun

informal

1.    anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.

Origin

Early 21st century: abbreviation of fear of missing out.

As I was stuck at home with my hand propped up above my heart I felt isolated and out of the loop.  For the first month or so I found myself checking my email, my Facebook pages and blogs way more than normal. Almost obsessively. I decided I had to stop and go back to my regular routine of checking emails first thing in the morning to see if there is anything that needed my immediate attention, go to work which now included hours of hand therapy, then I could check social media.  

Most importantly, I had to get out of the mind set that I was missing out on anything.  I think it’s too easy to fall down that rabbit hole whether recovering from an injury or not.  

When I searched for information on FOMO, I found a plethora of articles and blogs on the subject.  Here’s a couple I found interesting that might help if you, too, find yourself afflicted with FOMO:

https://lifehacker.com/why-fomo-is-actually-social-anxiety-and-what-you-should-1794561929

http://time.com/collection/guide-to-happiness/4358140/overcome-fomo/

Coming up in 2018 a new continuity series from Love Inspired Suspense: Military K-9 Unit https://books.harlequin.com/search?w=military%20k-9%20unit
There will be a total of eleven stories in this series with books by Terri Reed, Val Hansen, Dana Mentink, Maggie K. Black, Lenora Worth, Lynette Eason, Laura Scott, and Shirlee McCoy.

On the hunt for a killer

An exciting prequel to the Military K-9 Unit series

Sheriff’s Deputy Serena Evans knows her trusty K-9 partner Ginger can track down the serial killer who is tormenting her Texas town…if only her boss would give her the chance. When they trace him to Jason Hargrove’s land, Serena and Ginger will have to team up with the reclusive rancher in order get their man.

Enter the world of the Military K-9 Unit

A riveting new series begins!

When the Red Rose Killer leaves his calling card for Staff Sergeant Felicity Monroe, she knows exactly what that means—she’s on his revenge list. Her boss, Master Sergeant Westley James, and K-9 German shepherd Dakota become her guardians, but they’ll have to act fast to escape the man who wants her dead.

New for January from Our Love Inspired Contemporary Authors

And what could be a better way to start the new year than with these four new must buys from our Love Inspired Contemporary authors. Just click on a cover to buy one. And to learn more about these talented ladies, click on their names.

Her Handyman Hero
by Lorraine Beatty 

BUILDING A DREAM
Reid Blackthorn arrives in Dover on a personal mission—to make sure his terminally ill brother gets a chance to meet his daughter. Deceiving little Lily’s guardian isn’t his intention. Yet once Tori Montgomery mistakes Reid for her new handyman, he knows it’s the only way to be close to his niece. Tori is honoring her friend’s last wish by keeping Lily away from her father’s family. And once she learns who Reid truly is, she realizes there’s too much at stake—including custody of Lily—for her to fall for the former DEA agent. But in keeping a promise, is she losing out on her chance for a happily-ever-after?

An Amish Arrangement
by Jo Ann Brown 

THE FARMER'S INSTANT FAMILY
Jeremiah Stoltzfus hopes the Amish community of Harmony Creek will provide a fresh start…until days before closing on his new farm, he finds a beautiful trespasser. Mercy Bamberger claims the property is hers, promised by her late grossdawdi. Jeremiah can’t turn out the single mom and her daughter, nor can he leave. His solution: temporarily sharing the farm until ownership is settled. Once a city kid adopted by a Mennonite family, Mercy yearns to make the farm a haven for unwanted children. But living beside the handsome Amish farmer has her yearning for everything that’s eluded her…laughter, love and a forever family. 

Mom for His Daughter
by Jean C. Gordon 

A DAD'S SECOND CHANCE
Widowed single dad Marc Delacroix doesn’t have time for surprises—especially one like Fiona Bryce. Finding out that she’s the biological aunt of his adopted daughter, Stella, is a big shock. While Fiona’s commitment to the little girl appears to be genuine, Marc wonders if he can truly trust her—or his own heart, which he vowed never to risk again. Fiona’s eager to connect with the sweet young niece she never knew she had, but Marc seems determined to keep her at arm’s length. Could Marc and Fiona’s shared love of Stella be the bond that transforms their fragile connection into a real family?

The Texan's Twins
by Jolene Navarro

BIG TEXAN REUNION
Between providing for her five-year-old twins and achieving her dream of running a wildlife sanctuary, Danica Bergmann has no room for anything—or anyone—else. So when the wildlife volunteer she’s taken on turns out to be Reid McAllister, her secret husband, who disappeared before she got a chance to reveal she was pregnant, it flips her world upside down. Six years ago he wasn’t worth chasing down, but Danica can tell Reid’s a changed man—and he’s still the only man she’s ever loved. It’s a long road to redemption, but can Danica learn to trust Reid with their children…and their future?