By: Jennifer Carole Lewis (author)
I have been
reading romance novels since I was a teenager.
I quickly learned to find the hidden troves at my friends’ houses and
over and over I fell in love with the dark, brooding romantic heroes. I imagined countless scenarios of being swept
away by some lovely lethal man. A guy
who knew what to do if being attacked by terrorists and could single-handedly
scale castle walls, that was my kind of guy.
If he could also have a tortured soul where he constantly strove to
overcome his perceived sins, even better.
Between comic
books, action movies and romance novels, I had my fill of dark heroes to pick
from. But then there began to be a
shift. More and more kick-ass women
began appearing as the heroes, not needing any man to show them how to handle a
roundhouse kick or firearm. I shifted
from wanting to date the heroes to wanting to be the heroes. Buffy,
Xena, Karen McCoy from The Real McCoy,
Huntress from the Batman universe (and I realize I am revealing more than I
want about how old I am), all of them were strong, capable women with quick
wits and faster feet.
But there was
something a little unsatisfying in my new-found revelry. I have always been a romantic at heart and
the romantic entanglements of my favorite heroines bothered me. Either they stayed solo (any guy who loved
them died before the closing credits) or they were paired with alpha males who
regulated them to the sidelines in an effort to keep them safe. If they did find a supportive male, the relationship
was often doomed to fail. Sometimes it
was even explicitly stated that their boyfriends couldn’t handle being less
than them in a relationship.
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| Picture found online |
It got me
thinking. Could there be a romantic hero
who was strong and capable but able to accept a woman who might be stronger and
more competent than him? Otherwise,
weren’t these stories still reinforcing the old worn-out advice that women have
to be less in order to get a man?
I got at least
part of my wish with the television series, Castle. The hero, Richard Castle, is a writer who brings
his ability to make wild leaps of faith and unseen connections to help Kate
Beckett, an NYPD detective. Beckett is
stronger than Castle in almost every way.
She’s better with a gun and she doesn’t get tripped up dealing with
dangerous suspects. Part of Beckett’s
appeal to Castle is that she strong. I
loved it.
But I still wasn’t
completely satisfied. Finally, I created
my own hero, Michael, a child therapist with martial arts training, an
enthusiasm for comic books and the ability to pick up emotions and information
through touching the people and objects around him. He’s no weakling or comedy sidekick, but his
strength is in his heart and faith. He
sees all the darkness in the world, all the terrible secrets we hide from each
other, but still manages to be idealistic and optimistic. He’s the perfect counterpart (if I dare say
so myself) for my dark, brooding heroine, Dani, who tortures herself for her
past mistakes.
One of the things
I love about romance novels is how they are continually evolving. Forty years ago, it would have been
unthinkable to have a heroine who wasn’t a virgin, let alone one in her forties
and fifties. The heroes used to be
criminally violent and now they range from sweet boys next door to the powerful
alpha males. The stories they tell plumb
every aspect of human existence. They’ve
branched into fantasy and science fiction sub-genres (and many others, but
those were the ones I got particularly excited about). They offer every level of sensuality, from
sweet to scorching. I’m proud to have
added my own variation to the classic tale of boy-meets-girl.
Jennifer Carole Lewis is also the author of Revelations. Check out the first chapter of her novel here.
About the Author:
Jennifer Carole Lewis is a full-time mom, a full-time
administrator and a full-time writer, which means she is very much interested
in speaking to anyone who comes up with any form of functional time-travel
devices or practical cloning methods. Meanwhile,
she spends her most of her time alternating between organizing and typing.
She is a devoted comic book geek and Marvel movie enthusiast. She spends far too much of her
precious free time watching TV, especially police procedural dramas. Her enthusiasm outstrips her
talent in karaoke, cross-stitch and jigsaw puzzles. She is a voracious reader of a
wide variety of fiction and non-fiction and always enjoys seeking out new
suggestions.
Author links:
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