I was thrilled this week to get similar comments from two early readers for Fly Boy:
“What I love about Holiday’s books are her strong and feisty female characters. They persevere no matter what…” and “One reason I adore her work is because her characters are always resilient. There’s no shrinking violet waiting for a knight to save her in Holiday’s books…”
It made me recall the early heyday of romance novels, back with the classic bodice-ripper covers and kidnapping rogues as heroes. The latter are still with us, now morphed into the Mafia kings and other alpha males of Dark Romance, but the days of the helpless numbskull heroine are mostly finished, thank heavens. The opposite now is the Action Figure Chick, who proves she’s a badass … because she curses, can kick high enough to incapacitate multiple men while wearing heels, or can shoot a gun—the proverbial “Man With Boobs.” I’ll confess it can be a guilty pleasure to watch this kind of heroine in a summer blockbuster movie, but for reading, I prefer a little more nuance and realism.
I do write about tough, resourceful women—or sometimes women on the journey to become so, in the case of Nicole from Helios and Farrah from Finders, Keepers. It can be the hardest thing in the world on occasion, to keep soldiering on when you feel alone, or scared, or life has kicked you in the teeth—it happens to all of us, and my hope is that seeing the heroine win is inspiring to women who are looking for an escape from their own struggles.
It’s more than that, though. A relationship is not the “zero sum game” which was portrayed in the early romances, in which someone was Alpha and that meant the other was a doormat. I think ideas about masculinity now make it challenging for men—especially young ones. Be polite and open that door, or risk someone taking offense? Show sensitivity—but not enough to get dismissed and walked on! So, part of what I love in writing relationships is about the man’s struggles to reevaluate as he recognizes his lady love is not a fragile thing, but someone who is strong and determined, sexy and smart—and he’s not threatened by it.
A resilient, capable woman will deeply appreciate, love, and value her man, even if she’s not under his thumb—I daresay even more so.
Here’s to all the tough chicks out there, and the men who love them!
Recent Comments