Sunday, December 6, 2009
Heroines who are entirely unsuitable.
While I was writing my fist manuscript, I had a particular secondary character I loved, named Josephine. She's quirky and tough and a genius bomb-maker. She's Irish, and makes bombs for the IRA. She's an unflinching bad-ass. She wasn't one of the bad guys, but she certainly wasn't one of the good guys. Somewhere in between. And that was cool -- she wasn't the heroine, so she didn't need to be a good guy. At the end of the first book, she got arrested along with the bad guys.But since finishing, Jo's story has been rattling around in my head, begging to be told. So now she's a heroine, and frankly, she's entirely unsuitable to be the heroine.
Entirely unsuitable.
1. She's in jail!
2. She's a terrorist!
3. She young, only 25. I generally prefer heroines old enough to be smarter than the average twenty-five year old. Though Jo's been in jail for a few years, so she's pretty damn mature.
4. She is also, however, a full 20 years younger than the hero. She has a thing for older men. Hmm. Wonder if that has anything to do with her dead father?
5. She was sleeping with the hero of the first book at the beginning of the book.
6. She's extremely promiscuous. Heroine's sleeping with other men isn't usually joyfully recieved.
7. Her moral compass is way off -- making her a fairly compassion-less and unkind woman. Some of it is a front. Maybe most of it, but she's not overly kind.
8. And finally, she's a smoker.
There are genres and romance sub-genres where any or all of these characteristics would be fine for the heroine or main protagonist. I can think of some urban fantasy books with similar heroines. But I write suspense, where characters or cops, or FBI agents, or someone equally upstanding and law-abiding and justice-seeking.
Not terrorists who are cutting deals to lower their prison sentence.
But forget all that -- forget that she's Ireland's underground bomb expert, or that she's had more one-night stands than she could possibly remember, her one attribute that might really trip me up is the last one. She's a smoker.
I haven't before written a protagonist who smokes, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I hadn't read a contemp romance with a smoking heroine. I'm sure they're out there -- I'm curious what they are.
So what do you guys think? Should heroine's smoke? Is that one of those character things? If they smoke they smoke -- you can't change them. Or do you have to explain why a character is stupid enough to be smoking in the first place?
I recently read a dark romantic suspense and the hero smoked. His sister showed up, and they had a really terrible relationship. They couldn't hardly say two words to each other, but they could sit in silence and smoke together. As soon as they spoke, they would start fighting and hurting each other. But every time they needed the other's support, they would sit and smoke silently. I thought it was a really great way of showing the tension and contradictions in their relationship.
Josephine smoking doesn't play a role like that, but still, I hesitate to just explain the habit away by saying she quit in prison. I also hesitate to make her quit during the book.
Yet, despite all these reasons, Josephine's story is one I need to tell. So she's my new heroine. She's entirely unsuitable, and frankly, I think that's wonderful. I'm going to have a hell of a good time writing her.
So what do you guys think? Do I need to make her stop smoking? How do you feel about heroine's who smoke? Do you think Josephine sounds like a suitable heroine? What would you put on the list of no-no's when it comes to heroines?
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43 comments:
Hi. I love this heroine already. You are taking the usual (a anti-hero who needs to be redeemed) and turning the tables. Perhaps she made a deal to get out of prison and works for the government now? Perhaps she falls in love with an undercover agent and neither can break cover - so each feels that love is a betrayal to their purpose. Or maybe they release her to track an old friend, a fellow bomb maker, and loving the hero (a cop) is a betrayal to her cause? There are a million really amazing things you could do with a plot like this. I don't like the smoking, I must admit. That's the only "no-no" for me. Previos bed-hopping doesn't matter, as long as she stops after she meets the hero! Let me know the name of this book when you get it done. Sounds great!
I recently read Stieg Larsson's Salander trilogy and think that the heroine Lisbet Salander has a lot in common with your heroine. She doesn't chain smoke however but has some additional endearing traits.
For example she has her own deep moral code but doesn't hesitate to zap the bad guys. She is a social miss-fit due to an appalling upbringing. Her father and brother are terrorists straight out of hell, and repeatedly try to kill her to destroy the knowledge that she possesses.
She apparently suffers from aspergers syndrome and possesses incredible computing skills, being a world class hacker. The latter skill is frequently used to destroy her enemies.
I'm not sure that this would class as ROMANTIC suspense in any conventional sense, but she does find her HEA eventually ... I think!
There is a helluva lot of evil in the world and sometimes it takes criminal skills to root it out. A heroine with those skills and a strong moral commitment to guide her can be very compelling.
The Salander books are a fantastic read, as confirmed by sales figures,but IMO could have been significantly improved by strengthening the romantic thread.
Hal, perhaps you could take Larsson's concept as a template and topologically distort it to fit your taste. I know that the romantic thread will be very strong in your book so you could definitely improve on Larsson. 8)
Hal - I would be completely into this heroine!
The smoking thing...I'm really not sure. I think you have to ask if you think it's necessary to explaining part of her character. Maybe her struggle with smoking will mirror her struggle to clean up her act (hopefully only to a certain extent because we need more bad-ass heroines!).
Clearly the smoking is the deal breaker. *LOL* Everyone can empathize with a granola-crunching, healthy terrorist. But a SMOKER? No, ma'am.
If she smokes, she smokes. And if boys can do it and get away with it, then the girls should too. Frankly, the average reader isn't going to know what it's like to be a terrorist, a jailbird, a free-loving sex queen, or a smoker (I mean, it's banned all over town here, it's too troublesome to take up at this point)--the smoking one was the most likely one on the list that women could identify with and relate to the heroine.
You have your work cut out for you. But you've made it clear in your first book that you don't write typical characters. You write hard ones. You can't turn her into a fluffy bunny now. That wouldn't be believable. However, clearly the story is going to be about HER character arc, where she rethinks the terrorist bit; learns to be more compassionate and kind; and gives up the smoking. (You can't have a HEA if you think the heroine is going to die of lung cancer in a couple years.)
You're going to need to be in deep POV as possible. WHY is she a terrorist? WHY is she so compassion-less and emotionally closed off? WHY is she a smoker?
And as dark as your stories are, you could use some comedy to lighten the tension occasionally--and having possibly a hero who is more health-conscious and constantly trying to give her nictoine gum or a nictoine patch could be amusing. Plus, once she actually tries to quit and turns into a heinous witch?--now that's funny. (There was this episode on NewsRadio where Phil Hartman gave up smoking and Dave Foley gave up coffee...HILARIOUS.)
Hal - it's no secret I love Jo. I think it's going to be fun to redeem her, at least to some degree.
As for the smoking thing.... I think the reason there aren't a lot of smoking heroines is because smoking has the cultural stigma of being a weakness. For some reason, a hero with that "weakness" is acceptable but the same "weakness" in a female isn't.
You do ask the tough questions. :) For one thing, I think you have the advantage that your readers will have met Josephine in the first book. They know what to expect and they already find her fascinating - flaws and all. If you have her trying to quit during the book, that's going to be a huge part of the story. I think her quitting is tied to her whole character arc and if she quit in prison, did she already decide to change many other things? Or is she defiant? Is it part of her attitude of this is who I am. Does she feel unworthy of love and the hero? Maybe her smoking is a big part of sabataging her relationship with the hero. What does he expect from her? How does he handle her past AND her smoking? I'd think it would be powerful that he accepts her as she is...maybe then, with acceptance found, at the end she can quit. Maybe she has to forgive herself for many things before she can quit.
It's not like this is a category romance or bound by traditional romance standards. I think you're free to use her smoking as a realistic part of her world and she'll be forgiven and even have the sympathy of the reader. I can't see her quitting in prison either unless her character changed a lot before this story begins.
Hi Michele! I hope you're enjoying your visit to the states, and tell your sis Hi for me!
I love the list of ideas you came up with! Right now, what I think is that the Spanish government offers her amnesty in exchange for helping them foil a terror attack in Spain. The hot Spanish cop who releases her, Luken, is older and straight-laced and extremely unhappy with himself that he's so attracted to her.
He also quit smoking decades ago, but still misses it, so Josephine, in her complete bitch moments, uses that against him *g*
So here's a question for you - is smoking still prevalent in Europe? Have you spent much time in Spain by any chance? Is it more acceptable socially there than in the US, or is it dying out in Europe too?
Q - I've started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I still haven't finished it. It's sitting on my nightstand - I'll definitely have to finish it if you think there's some similarities. I only ever got about 20 pages in, so I haven't met Lisbeth yet.
But, yes, I would definitely increase the romantic thread. I read a book this weekend, that I thought was romantic suspense, but turned out to be straight suspense with no romantic thread. It was so disappointing. It doesn't matter what type of book it is - it's always the romantic thread that keeps me hooked.
Hey Sabrina!
The smoking is necessary in the first book. One of Jo's quirk's is that she's super organized, except when it comes to cigarettes. So the hero of the first book (also her boss, and she was sleeping with him) would always have two or three lighters in his pocket, or an extra pack for her, It got the hero out of a jam in the first book, that he had extra lighters in his pocket (and also pissed off the heroine because she knew why).
So after that long rambling answer, her smoking was necessary in the first book. As to if it's an integral part of her character....it feels like it to me, but I'm not sure why. I'm still trying to figure her out. She likes to play things close to the vest.
Hellie - very good point. The smoking thing, or quitting if I go that route, would be a very relate-able thing. And funny too. I hadn't thought of the hero trying to make her quit, but that's good. Every time she turns into a royal bitch, he can just silently pass her a piece of nicotine gum. I love it.
You're right about the deep POV. It needs a very, very deep POV. So deep, in fact, that I've been.....(drum roll)......debating first person (gasps sound throughout the boat. Silence descends). Yeah, I know, I incessantly go on and on about how much I hate 1st person, but for some reason, it feels almost necessary here. I may have to at least try it, see what it looks like. I have a few chapters written in 3rd person to compare.
Marn - I love Jo too :) It's going to be so much fun writing her.
I think you're definitely right that smoking is a major sign of weakness. Funny, how it's totally okay to have a tortured, weak hero (as long as he's still an alpha male at heart, of course), but we want women tough.
good questions Melissa - thanks! She is very defiant, and very unwilling to let anyone tell her what to do. And she does sabotage pretty much everything.
But you've just given me an awesome idea for how the hero can get past her prickly outside......be right back!
First off, Carrie Bradshaw, main character in Sex and the City, is a smoker and never apologized for it. And I'm pretty sure, she never quit. So there is an audience who will accept it. I say, if she smokes, she smokes. The only thing about smoking that bothers me is the smoke around me. Since smoke will not be pouring off the pages, I don't see a problem with it.
If you were writing a YA and glamorizing smoking as something cool to do, you'd have a problem. Here, I think you're fine.
This heroine sounds like a great read. And as for criminal types turning good guy, the new show White Collar on the USA network is all about a very successful criminal now working with the FBI. Neal is charming, adorable, and never really changed his criminal way of thinking. He just uses (for the most part) now to help catch other criminals.
As for the smoking thing…. I think the reason there aren’t a lot of smoking heroines is because smoking has the cultural stigma of being a weakness. For some reason, a hero with that “weakness” is acceptable but the same “weakness” in a female isn’t.
I agree, but almost think you could turn this "weakness" to your advantage. Is it a weakness Josephine acknowledges or is it part of her world? Maybe even a world she misses. I would imagine Josephine is grieving for her her former life, as disfunctional as it was. Her memories of the comraderie and her father who she loved. Everyone smoking and no one worrying about it killing them because they were living a dangerous life. It was all she knew. Is she now trying to fit in to a new life? I saw a clip on Desperate Housewives at the end where they had that voice over. A montage of the neighborhood. Something like, "and two houses down, a suburban mom sneaks out to enjoy her beloved tobacco." In one second I could relate. The "suburban mom" had a former life and is trying to fit in as best she could to a new one.
Ter - I forgot Carrie smokes - you're right. I haven't seen that show White Collar yet, but it looks hilarious. And Leverage is another one where they're all thieves and bad guys now trying to help other people. The lead guy in that one is always saying things like, "You're the good guys now! You can't just keep that money!" LOL!
Melissa - she is very much grieving for her old way of life. At the same time, it's not until the end of book 1 that she realizes that everything she loved about her old life was an illusion. So it's this terrible mix of wanting so badly to go back, and yet knowing that what she wants to go back to so badly didn't actually exist. So she's trying to fit into this new world, on her own terms, yet at the same time, she's fighting it because she can't trust her own judgment any more.
Man, when I put it like that, no wonder she's a smoker *g*
Hell, I want a cigarette after that. LOL! (Wait, that sounds kind of wrong.)
You should check out White Collar. You can watch the episodes online and they replay them on the weekends. The last show of the season aired last Friday and send kiddo and I into a total tizzy. :)
Ter - LMAO!
I'll have to go back and watch it. I couldn't tell from the commercials if I'd like it or not. good to know somebody did - I'll give it a try!
Hal, your heroine doesn't suffer a shortage of issues does she? LOL That's a good thing!
What's interesting to me, is that I'm guessing you wouldn't have set out to write a heroine that smokes if she hadn't already been a secondary character who was a smoker. Correct? It is integral to her character and not what defines her as the main characteristic. She's much more than a smoker.
I doubt if I would envision a heroine who smoked. But I could imagine a secondary character with a problem. And I could imagine that secondary character being so interesting that I wanted to tell her story, built in problems and all. If not smoking, maybe the secondary character was overweight. Would I have that obese secondary character still be obese as the heroine? Would she have lost weight before HER story began? Would she lose weight during the story? What kind of hero would match up with her? I don't know, but I really like the possibilities that I couldn't imagine without introducing her as a secondary character. I think it's a challenge met only when the "flaw" is integral to the character.
This is really an interesting blog, Hal. I've just re-wrote my response about 2 or 3 times saying how the smoking would be a deal breaker for me. Then as I was writing I kind of realized that maybe it wasn't.
The more I try to respond to this blog the more I realize that it really isn't a deal breaker at all. It would just be another character trait, another weakness for her to deal with. Either she will deal with it or not.
It may affect how I feel about her, however. If you try to portray her as superwoman, someone who is invincible and has great strength of character but she can't give up cigarettes then I may question that.
But I've read books before where I didn't really love either the hero or heroine and I still enjoyed the book. It's making us believe in their HEA.
It would be really funny if she's forced to be undercover to do this thing, but she's a "undercover" that doesn't smoke. As in a high-profile type of person who wouldn't have that particular habit. Like a heart-lung surgeon. Or a nun. (A nun would be funny.)
Melissa - I think that's the problem I'm facing. I created her as an exteremly-flawed secondary character, and now that she feels too flawed, but she's been in my head so long that I can't change her. These thigns are just part of who she is. But I think you're right that she's going to be way more intersting because of it.
Irish - how funny that you kept changing your mind while you talked. It's interseting how different things are sticking points for different people.
you've raised a very good point, though, about how someone with a strong character but who can't quit smoking is unbelievable. I need to keep that in mind. Perhaps as she gets to know herself better, and kind of come to those decsisions about who she is and what she wants to be, smoking will be somethign that naturally has to go. I like that thought process much better than making her quit because readers frown on it. (not that you'd ever suggest that, just saying, in general...)
Hellie - that would be hilarious. She's undercover as someone who can't smoke. Hmm....she's going to foil a bomb for the Spanish police, but she's got a few months first while she's gaining their trust. any other jobs you can think of where she couldn't smoke? Maybe the hero not-so-subtly gets her a job at an anti-smoking clinic or something. LOL!
You could always create a reason she needs to stop smoking early in the book and then she always has suckers with her. And if she doesn't have a sucker when she needs one, she gets a bit crazy. Could be a great way to work in the funny stuff. Opportunity for lots of offers to put something else in her mouth.
*whistles innocently*
Hi, from the deep blue sea! Smokin'... Funny thing is, it's the one thing I hate ta see in a heroine. Fiona, from Burn Notice, worked for the IRA, makes bombs, is a gun runner...but she don't smoke...
Ya could have a lot of fun wit' this. Like everyone who is huntin' her knows she smokes, so in an effort to hide, after a jail break, she has ta quit smokin' or really, really, cut back. Hooks up with a real health freak who don't tolerate smoke... So much possibility here!
She's finally somewhere totally remote, where she can have a ciggie...and because she lights up...she gets found...
Make it somethin' she hates, despises 'bout herself, use it fer humor...
I say use and eventually, push fer her ta lose it.
Ya all be sure ta make full use a' the bar while I'm gone! Ahoy!
I can't believe the woman checked in from a cruise. And on her birthday. LOL!
Happy Birthday, Chancey!!! Now get the hell off the computer. LOL!
It's the DH's turn... I'm going! Love ya all!
I wouldn't bother to explain why she smokes. I think it fits with the other self-destructive habits she has, and doesn't need to be questioned at all.
What could make it powerful is if she tries to give it up. Join that with an effort to see people in a more compassionate light and you've got a killer archetype.
Ohhh...I like Chance's possibilities! (I'm with Bo'sun...she's checking in from a cruise on her birthday!?)Especially the one where She’s finally somewhere totally remote, where she can have a ciggie…and because she lights up…she gets found…
Gets found out by who? The hero or the bad guys? Could she blow her cover by having a cig? Picturing her and the hero being undercover in the dark, full spy night gear and she lights up. Or smokes in a dangerous place that will get them blown up! Other than it being stupid of her it would piss off the hero.
Either way, you've got plot possibilities. Now I want a heroine who smokes! LOL
about how someone with a strong character but who can’t quit smoking is unbelievable.
Even the president struggles with a smoking habit. I'm not advocating it, but I feel bad for him and yes, sympathetic. A character flaw that I hope he can overcome, but strong characters still have vices that defy reason.
Opportunity for lots of offers to put something else in her mouth.
LOL! Bo'sun has another interesting plot idea...!
Melissa: jinx.
Opportunity for lots of offers to put something else in her mouth.
ROTFLMAO
I agree. You can have what would be a totally strong person--someone who everyone thinks has got it together--and will end up having some ironically devastating FLAW.
The compassionate priest who leads the community--everyone loves him--and has affairs no one knows about.
The President, as someone said.
The nutritional nurse who smokes and is overweight.
The Sunday School teacher who has an affair with her married co-worker...or better, the preacher.
I don't see how smoker makes a person weak. It's an addiction, a strong one. Being the president doesn't make your brain work any different than being the person ringing the bell next to the little red pot.
I don't understand why people continue to smoke when it's literally killing them. My grandmother smoked WHILE ON OXYGEN. No, I have no idea how she didn't blow us up. My ex's aunt would take a treatment on her breathing machine to have another cigarette. That's a POWERFUL addiction. It's a physical thing, like any other addiction.
Addiction is a weakness. Like gambling is an addiction. Sex can be an addiction. Drinking or using drugs is an addiction.
And you can have my diet Mountain Dew when you pry it from my cold dead caffienated hands.
I see it as a trigger in the brain. If I crave something because something is triggered in my brain, it's a physical response. I admit, whatever a person is addicted to can be used as a crutch. Smoking I think of when a person gets stressed and really needs a smoke. And it does take strength to overcome the addiction, to walk away from it.
But there are good people, with good intentions and strengths in many other areas, who smoke. I just don't see it as a character weakness. A physical weakness yes. But that's just me.
I just have to say, it's creepy how these ads show up in my email. For the first time ever, I'm not getting an ad to stop smoking. LOL! How could my email know what I'm talking about over here?!?
She sounds like one of the most interesting characters I've seen in a long time -- and I would definitely read her story!
I'm not a fan of smoking -- my mom died of lung cancer -- but I do know how hard that addiction can be for people, so I would admire a character trying to fight it, and I would empathize with their struggle. And I agree there are LOTS of interesting challenges/complications/scenarios that could use this particular characteristic.
So hurry up and write this book.
Um, I added a little smiley face to my last sentence, but it didn't show up -- so it sounds like I was being very mean! LOL
Sorry about that! (Is there a red-faced smiley anywhere?)
No worries Donna - I didn't think it sounded mean at all. I do desperately want to get this girl down on paper and fast. I'm sorry to hear about your mother -- I wondered if that would be an issue. People not wanting to read about smokers after losing someone to lung cancer. I think you're right that it gives me lots of scenarios!
You know, for this heroine, I think the smoking fits-I mean she's been in jail for a while, and pretty much everyone smokes in jail (or so the movies tell us). But now that she's getting out (I assume she is getting out somehow, right?) you could use this as a reflection of her internal conflict. As she struggles to quit we see how difficult it is to do-as difficult as, say, staying OUT of jail now. Of course, she will beat the habit because she does have a strong character, but a few slips and slides along the way are to be expected.
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