For my books about the Hemstreet sisters and their mother, the first attractions to their characters were location, the family, and then that they were professional witches.
In terms of witch, I am using that word loosely as we have a concept for what qualifies someone to be a witch? Why are they labeled such? These are ordinary looking women with ordinary jobs. Two ran a boutique. One was a detective. One helped her widowed mother run the Black Cat Bookstore. All but one had their own homes-- the youngest, still at home, wanted to move out.
I referred to these women as natural born witches but fully human with skills that make them different. At the same time, they have all the usual human problems. I liked them having an added problem of supernatural powers, since that meant they had to lead a double life, where you have to hide part of who you are. What did that mean for their romantic life?
What many people, those who don't read romances, don't know is that the male protagonists are central to the stories. Romances are thought of as stories for women. Of course, women are their main buyers but unlike chick lit, men also read them for a variety of reasons. The thing I want to explore here are those heroes in the books. What about the men!
Of course, heroes are heroes in any genre, but paranormals sometimes have an aspect many other romances do not. In mine, that means heroines with supernatural powers. What kinds of men would want a relationship with women who could zap them with a plasma bolt if so inclined? Or worse-- women who could read their mind? When your woman could instantly materialize, that might be unsettling. How about when she talks to someone you can't see? Even worse, what about when she has enemies after her-- enemies you don't believe are there. Is she crazy? In my paranormals (for wont of a better word), the young women had a sorcerer father they had hero worshiped but who left this life when they were girls-- the oldest eighteen. How does a possible boyfriend (is that still a word for today?) stand up to that kind of example-- especially when he might doubt that kind of 'other' world even exists.
And then, there is that potential mother-in-law with her own skills and the added power of wealth. This is the kind of setting only the strongest of men might walk into-- at least knowingly.
In romances, the heroes are equally if not more important than the heroines. The heroine is the heart of the story-- the hero is the catalyst. He makes things happen, and she grounds him. I won't say that's always the dynamics between them in all of my books. It can be the other way around with him being the grounding one. One though has to make it happen and the other to keep it real-- works in marriages too as I have experienced in my over 50 year marriage.
When I got into the idea of writing these books about a witch family, the women were easier for me to write their profiles. But the men, therein came the challenge-- make these guys interesting and different, men to fit each of these unique women. I had to know their personalities as those are key on romances. You can read Tom Clancy adventure stories and have no real idea of the inner thinking of his heroes. They are on a mission. Even if they have an ex-wife or kids, they are working out how to get the bad guy or solve what is going on. Books can be plot or character driven. Romances are definitely the latter. One other thing-- some think only women write romances-- not the case. Some men do use feminine sounding pseudonyms, but men are quite capable of writing strong romances. Heck, they live it often, so why not!
So, the next few blogs will be about the men in my Arizona Mystic Shadows series, the ones set in Arizona. First up, is the man who is about to meet one of the Hemstreet sisters.
Dangerous Match's hero is Nick Beringer, born December 2, 1976 in Cody, Wyoming-- in a snowstorm according to his grandmother. Nick's father died when he was fourteen. Four years later, his mother, Marian, married a big rancher, Rance Coburn and Nick acquired a half brother, Pete. With little interest in school, Nick found jobs on the local ranches until he was old enough to join the Navy straight out of high school. Eventually, being a SEAL seemed a good career path. His younger brother, Adam enlisted due to hero worshiping Nick. He was killed in Iraq, for which Nick's mother blamed him. It was then that Nick decided he'd had enough of the military and didn't re-enlist. Suffering from some PTSD, Nick turned to painting for therapy and found he had a gift for it. He has no supernatural gifts and doesn't believe in much beyond dust to dust. He comes to Tucson because it has a gallery that has sold his paintings, and he likes Barrio Viejo as an artistic enclave for him to find inspiration and paint with privacy. He has no idea that it's permanent as he likes being free.
When writing a book, it's good to know a lot of details that won't find their way into the book. It gives background. Most of what is above had nothing to do with the book, but it establishes why Nick is an adventurer, one who might take on a witch for a mate-- for a while.
What he has no intention of doing is falling in love as it's a trap. He has a black cat, who has come to him as a stray. He worries about Harvey, but he won't fence him in-- any more than he wants to be fenced himself. He has a neighbor across the street, John Cordova, who has shared war experiences. Neither have even had dinner together given their desire for privacy.
While Nick has no magical skills, he is a highly trained warrior, one who has turned his back on fighting wars but that doesn't mean he isn't a potentially dangerous man, which makes him a prime suspect when he has an argument with a gallery owner and she ends up murdered.
Dangerous Match is available at Amazon for eBooks, paperbacks and is also in KU for borrowing. The image below is one of the new additions Amazon offers where you can explore some of what is on their site as well as purchase the book. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GKH4DJA
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