I was recently reading some of the reviews for Opening Act (breaking Rule No. 1 of
Authordom, I know) when I stumbled across someone calling the hero a “clueless
idiot.” I wasn’t mad. I really couldn’t be mad. In fact, I cracked up laughing!
You know why? Because he is a
clueless idiot. Alpha heroes who are completely confident of their abilities to
woo and win fair ladies are all well and good, but sometimes you’ve just got to
write a beta hero…and, not only that, but a a doofus-y, has-no-idea-what’s-in-front-of-him beta hero. Adam Harper, 25-year-old blue-collar bartender and bass player certainly fits
that bill.
I know what you’re wondering: Why would anyone knowingly write a guy who doesn’t know his cute butt from a
hole in the ground? Honestly, it’s because he felt authentic to me. I don’t
know about you, but I don’t know a lot of asshat billionaires who think they’re
God’s gift to women. I don’t know a lot of smooth operators who dickishly say, “I
want you” and have girls falling at their feet for it.
What I do know are dudes who are cute and sexy and nice and
say the wrong thing. Boys who don’t realize they’re hurting your feelings. Men
who wouldn’t realize you liked them “that way” until you paraded around naked
in front of them. And, for this story, that’s what I wanted to write about:
that gloriously infuriating realistic guy you could meet at your local bar. The
guy you’ve known since high school who still doesn’t realize you grew up. A guy
that needs to be told, “I want you” for it to dawn on him that he’s allowed to
want you, too. We’ve all met that guy, right?
Every ounce of my heroine Saroj’s frustration stems from
real reactions I’ve had to that guy. She
just actually gets to vent her frustration…and reap the benefits! Lucky gal.
And there are plenty of stories I love that feature men who thrive when women take the lead. Be it Archimedes in Heart
of Steel, by Meljean Brook, or The Hunger
Games’ Peeta or Tom from Shelley Ann Clark's recent debut Have Mercy, there’s just something about guys who aren't put off by or afraid of a powerful, passionate woman. There's a sense of, "Oh, these women don't have to compromise what they want to make their love interest feel manly. He likes her exactly how she is." Not that Adam is quite up there with Peeta or Achimedes. But that's okay...
After all, clueless idiots need love, too.
I find it funny that female readers drool over the Alpha. Personally, they are not my type of man, in life or books. A long term dose of that personality is irritating. And quiet as things are kept, most women who are into men, are probably dating or married to Betas. It's not that they are stupid. They are just a tad slow on the uptake. But once in gear...Give me a Beta.
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