Imperfect Heroes

Does a hero have to be physically perfect? One of my favorite fairy-tales is Beauty and the Beast. I just read a book titled The Snow Bride based on this fairy-tale and fell in love with the hero who was far from looking like a Prince Charming. This hero had other qualities that made him loveable besides perfect looks. He treated the heroine with respect and risked his life to protect her.

I’m working on a story right now that has a hero with a crippled leg. A former warrior and king, his injury has left him bitter and filled with revenge. The heroine works with him to heal his physical and mental wounds. In another story I am working on, the hero has a brutal scar on his face that marks him as a traitor. In Of Water and Dragons, my hero has a scar from a battle wound that injured his eye so that he could no longer serve in the Roman army.

Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Those who can see past physical imperfections and into the heart of the person are truly gifted. In Celtic lore, a king had to pass certain tests to be king worthy. One of those tests was seeing past an old woman’s visage to the beauty within. A Celtic king had to be able to see beyond what others would see and not be fooled by appearances. But the Celts revered physical perfection in their kings—they had a law that stated the king had to be whole in body and mind. Proof of this is in the story of Nuada of the silver hand in Tuatha de Danaan legend. He could only keep his place as king by receiving a silver hand to replace the hand he lost in battle.

In modern society, we focus too much on perfect looks. It’s refreshing to see or read about a hero that isn’t perfect. If I had a choice between a selfish handsome hero and a caring scarred hero, I would choose the Beast over Prince Charming without hesitation. What’s inside a person is more important. Looks eventually fade anyway.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/ Check out my long hair hotties!

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

A Greek vampire, Celtic kings, vengeful goddesses, an ancient faery curse…

All three books of my Dark Goddess trilogy are available in Print and Ebook. Set in dark age Scotland, I mixed history with a Samhain/Beltaine myth that revolves around an Irish clan and the goddesses Brigit and Cailleach.

http://kelleyheckart.com/BookShelf.html

What is it about The Hero that captures our imagination?

Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell say there are nine universal characteristics of a hero's journey. After their years of study and research, they found in every society's folklore, myths and legends, that The Universal Hero is present.

What is it that causes us as human beings to seek The Hero?
What is it in our make-up that no matter from what culture or country we come, we are compelled to find someone who can save us?

The reason is two-fold, two sides of a coin.

These two songs illustrate the answer to my question - Enjoy!


We seek The Hero to do what we ourselves can't. To accomplish something we wouldn't dare. We revel in putting our trust in him. An innate need for a savior, causes us to look outside ourselves for someone good who can defeat the enemy and vanquish evil.



But The Hero is also man and experiences life as we do. He feels sorrow and pain. We can relate to him and put ourselves in his place. We can sympathize with him through his trials and understand how he feels and thinks. And when he struggles and ultimately wins, it is for us.


For more great FREE information about the Hero's Journey you can visit this site http://www.webenglishteacher.com/hero.html.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think it is about The Hero that captures our imagination.

Prior to becoming a writer of romantic fiction, Casea Major worked in the legal field for a non-profit dispute resolution company. She is now a full-time mom to three young children with whom she and her husband live happily...most of the time. When she isn't chained to her laptop, she enjoys Cary Grant movies and crocheting. Visit her at http://caseamajor.wordpress.com/ or on FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/CaseaMajor for information about her current and future book releases.

Recipe for Homemade Hunk (just add water)

Please welcome guest blogger Anne Noble. I loved this blog. I wished it was that easy.

Okay, so maybe it's not that simple to create a hunk from scratch.  But don't you love to read a stellar romance novel where the hunk is as real to you as chair in which you find yourself curled?  And it seems so simple to whip him up like the pancakes you made for breakfast. 

Just add water. 

Let me assure you.  It's not always easy to create the man through words on the pages.  The picture in your head isn't always the picture someone else will create when reading your words. 

Now some will say that makes me a bad writer.  But I disagree.  I know, surprise hun?  I think the best part about a romance novel is that though you have a general picture of what he looks like, you get to fill in the delicious blanks yourself.  You can fill those tiny spots with a little of the coffee shop attendant who winked at you last week while handing your daily mocha latte.  With the man working across the street wearing only his hard, tanned abs and a little dirt mixed in for ruggedness. 

It is not the exact replica of Fabio which a writer must give us.  No.  What makes a great hunk is the writer's ability to give us what we desire most.  Romance. 

 By Anne Noble