29 Responses to “Guest Author: December Quinn”

1. Teddy Pig Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 8:42 am

   1 Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger… HOT! The only “real” James Bond was Sean Connery

2. Dark Luck Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 8:46 am

   2 “How about you? Are you a Bond girl? What sort of hero do you prefer? Do you find the heroes you write or like to read are different from the men who attract you in real life, or the men you always thought attracted you? ” Bond has always been a bit of a dickhead to me. The womanising, the lack of feeling for all the Bond-bits who end up dead and his Englishness (yes, even Sean Connery) make my ovaries dry up. I only appreciated him more as a properly fleshed out character when he lost his wife and again when Timothy Dalton showed Bond’s relationships with his friend Felix and new bride (who also ends up dead). It was refreshing to see some emotion from Bond, a sign that he is capable of love. That is why I think the new Daniel Craig version was great. A man full of pent up passion and cool as a cucumber but still capable of making base mistakes and not being the hero at the end of the day. I love a dark and brooding character. Someone who borders on the bad side but knows his heart and can be passionate and unrelenting in his desire for one woman. When I write him, he does things the heroine doesn’t understand and is often misunderstood. He has a piss poor attitude and wry sense of humour but really loves his cat and makes moo-moo faces at fluffy when no one is around. This doesn’t really mesh with the men i’m attracted to. I tend to just like a peeny that is attatched to a man who won’t mind if I don’t shave my legs all the damn time. Jensen Ackles, Viggo Mortensen and Keanu Reeves all float my orgazmo boat so I have no real type, unless you count damn sexy eyes?

3. Amy S. Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 9:12 am

   3 I love an alpha hero. Blood Will Tell sounds great!

4. December/Stacia Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 9:28 am

   4 Oooh, Teddy Pig. Shirley Bassey is awesome–the hubs and I still think it’s a terrible shame they didn’t get her to do the song for Bond 20 (and instead got Madonna of all people, to do the Worst Bond Theme Ever. Bleh.) Oh, I agree, Dark Luck. Bond is a dick. Like you, I love the idea of that dick having something else under all that dickishness–he just needs the right woman to make him care about something, anything. And also like you, I find the men I get involved with (or used to, anyway) tend to be, well, not Bond-like. Mostly comic geeks, actually, like my husband. Oh well. (And mmmm…Viggo!) Thanks Amy! Thanks for the comments guys, you’re all entered!

5. BevL(QB) Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 10:24 am

   5 What I like in a hero depends on the genre I’m reading. In contemporaries, I prefer a less intense, more easy going hero. Make him an overbearing, over protective, too intense uber alpha and he’ll just piss me off no matter how hot he is (outside of the bedroom only, you understand? PLEASE keep him alpha in there!). Perversely, give that same character fangs or fur, and I’m squirmin’ and swoonin’ when he alphas out!

6. Meredith Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 10:29 am

   6 Oh, Daniel Craig. How I drool over you. I know, Sean Connery, blah blah blah, but Craig has a body like a gay porn star and those eyes! I don’t think Bond’s a dick, but I do think he’s a massive slut, and therefore not my type. Also, I have never been able to get past the whole Sean Connery as undercover Japanese agent–that whole movie set in Japan just soured me to the entire franchise, even the books, which my husband loves. Anyway, yes, I do have a favorite hero–the over the top, caveman-esque Alpha Hero. The closer to a stalker he is, the better I seem to like him. The “I see only you, I want only you, I’m completely obsessed with you” hero. Have I ever dated an Alpha? Oh, lordy, no. Restraining order much? I prefer my men in real life to be beta through and through. I don’t need somebody telling me what I can and can’t do in my real life and calling me every 15 minutes to make sure I’m not talking to another man. (I’m thinking of, say, Seth from Shannon McKenna’s Behind Closed Doors–love, love, love that hero, but he’s borderline psycho, let’s be honest.) Also, I’ll go on record as saying I can enjoy the, um, excessively overendowed male hero in romance, but would likely run screaming in the other direction if presented with such maleness in real life.

7. Erin Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 10:37 am

   7 I like a smart-ass with a bad-ass side. Someone who won’t necessarily start a fight, but who will finish a bar fight. Someone who can make you laugh in bed, right before he nails you to it..or by it, or near it, or under it. Someone who can follow a fast, tangetial conversation, likes cold beer and is easy with women and other guys. Stands up to (and with) his woman, not over her. Little arrogant, but not smug. Good tats. Shoulders. Clever hands (take that as you will.) Not an alpha, not a beta; a box-breaker, a rule-shaker.

8. Bettie Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 10:38 am

   8 I lurve Daniel Craig as Bond. Connery, while ostensibly the best of the bunch, was admirably tough and callous, but just a bit too smooth for my tastes. Craig’s Bond was rough at the edges, running just hot and cold enough to let you know there was one seriously fucked up individual behind that half-constructed facade. Lovely. I’ve noticed I tend to write about the sort of seriously fucked-up individuals whom I would attempt to avoid in real life–the sort of people who would chew up a nice girl or boy and spit them out on the side of the road without ever looking back. If one of my friends ever started dating anyone like my heroes or heroines, I’d tell her to run the other way, fast. People who make for a good story rarely make for a happy real life. My favorite fictional couples, they never have it easy. Veronica and Logan (fangirl says: squee!) from Veronica Mars: she’s suspicious and calculating, he’s secretive and impulsive. They’re not happy, per se, but they go together. And really, they’re both too fucked up to fit with anyone else. Mendoza and Nicholas/Edward/Alec from Kage Baker’s Company novels both have fatal flaws that will make an HEA feel like a cheat unless it comes at a very high price (and even then, this is one of those rare instances where an HEA might disappoint me). IRL, I like my men smart and tall, sweet, snarky and stubborn, with just the tiniest bit of contrariness thrown in for flavor. Some women call their husbands “Honey,” or “Darling”. I call mine “Smartass,” usually with good reason.

9. December/Stacia Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 12:27 pm

   9 Absolutely, BevL! I think that’s one reason I like paranormals so much-you can make the heros so delightfully alpha in a way you can’t with “regular” contemporary heroes. Heh, Meredith, it’s so funny, because I’ve heard discussions about this a lot lately it seems. What we want in a novel hero is often so different from what we want in real life–but one thing remains the same, and that’s that Daniel Craig is fucking HOT. Mmmm, Erin, snappy dialogue and quick wit is a MUST. Can’t like a man in books or real life who thinks slow and stands there like a lump. Oh yes, Bettie, fucked up is good too. I loves me a tortured, fucked up alpha. Especially if all that angst simmers behind a pool of smooth sexy.

10. bam Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 12:28 pm

    10 Author Comment Jensen Ackles *perk* ZOMG, totally OT, but I lurve me some Jensen Ackles. Actually, Dean Winchester. I could give a shit about Jensen Ackles. Wait, no, that’s a lie. Jensen Ackles looks like a rake in real life. I love rakes.

11. Tumperkin Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    11 Like so many other romance fans, I love flawed heroes and can get positively moist about heroes who behave in a completely irrational stroke psychotic way. Dain from Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase is a good example of the type but I suppose the archetypal psycho-hero has to be Heathcliffe from Wuthering Heights. In real life, I wouldn’t tolerate the kind of shit that guy hands out for two fucking seconds. But then, I’m not exactly a blueprint for a romance heroine myself.

12. Karla Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 12:36 pm

    12 I love the really amoral, dark heros who can go around killing at noon and then sit down to a nice lunch without any angst; so I guess that makes me sort of a Bond girl, except that I can’t stand Bond when he’s in full thug mode (a la Roger Moore) - he’s much better when he’s the thinking man with a gun. The heros I like to read about are rarely the same as the men I’d be attracted to in real life.

13. Murcia Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 1:22 pm

    13 I once tried to figure out once why I so whole-heartedly preferred Spike to Angel. I think it’s because Spike talks well and talks a lot. Plus, he seems to enjoy his misbehavior (in words, in sex, and in violence) more than Angel. Though I certainly paid attention when he and Buffy had Urban Renewal Sex, Spike basically had me (I mean my devotion) with the “humans are walking Happy Meals” speech. So, all the James Bonds with the “this is so COOL” bubble above their heads and the awful quips, appeal to me more than the pragmatic ones.

14. Jenn L Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 1:38 pm

    14 I like the tortured hero myself, one who has some suffering in his background. One that is dark and tormented, but so worth of love and redeemtion. For example I love JR Ward’s Zsadist. He is IMO one the darkest heros I’ve read that comes quickly to mind. Although I have a feeling Torhment will live up to his name. After the tortured hero, I would have to say the Alpha man has the most appeal. That take charge attitude is always a turn on, of course only in a romance novel. I don’t know that I could tolerate it in my real life, but then romances are supposed to be an escape from real life.

15. Isabella Snow Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 1:39 pm

    15 Well, girl, I had to come see what you wrote, and woot, thanks for the D.C. candy! Im not a Bond fan, myself, but I love *him*. Your new book sounds hawt, I love me a not nice man, lol.

16. Robyn Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

    16 Oh, you know me, sweetheart. An Alpha who growls somewhere in the book, “You’re mine!” makes me melt. Bond is at his best when he’s showing his mean streak, which is why I loved Connery. Forget the witty repartee, you knew he’d just rather kill the guy. LOVED Anne Stuart’s Black Ice for the same reason. Of course, I appreciate that the hawt body rising from the waves in the latest Bond was Daniel instead of the latest chick!

17. Josie Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 3:36 pm

    17 Thanks December - I love me some Daniel Craig! I am a massive fan of growling, aggresive alpha males in my reading… In real life? Spare me. I’m with Meredith on the Seth Mackey from Behind Closed Doors example - that book is one of my all time favourite guilty pleasures. But in real life if a guy I had just slept with (and who originally thought I was a hooker!) was sitting outside my house at 2 in the morning or breaking in and waiting for me when I got home late from work, I would be calling the cops not jumping in the sack with him! God I think I want to re-read that again… Sigh.

18. SweetNSourGirl Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 6:48 pm

    18 Give me a man who will delight in being a bit naughty and hold back my hair when I puke. I want a badass who’s got a heart of gold and a ruthless streak. A man who finishes what he starts with gusto and bravado. One who’s got an open mind and delights in banter and possesses a dry, sardonic humor. Someone who I could describe in one word, “Delicious.” A man who will make me melt with a single glance, and yet melt with me. Give me a man I could only want, and one who could only want me. A man who will just as soon shoot an enemy as take a bullet for me. Give me a man who will let me be me, but is just as crazy as I am. Murcia, I totally get the Spike thing. Angel’s just too damn tormented and mopey. Plus Spike’s got the abs, Angel doesn’t. I recently finished “A Devil in Winter” by Lisa Klyepas, oh man oh man, Sebastian is damn hot. Totally inspired my rant here today.

19. deemer Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 7:19 pm

    19 It’s funny - in romance books, guys are usually one or the other. They’re either stalking, hulking, inscrutable alpha males, or they’re puppy dogs prone to long speeches proclaiming undying love of the heroine ad nauseum. I’ve always been attracted to smart, funny, talkative men in real life, fitting neither mold, but it’s hard to capture that kind of personality in a novel without having the hero appear pompous, boring, and way too verbose. In my novels, I tend to love the alpha heroes. The intense, jealous, stake-claiming, sexually obsessive men that practically chain the women to their sides, all the while not revealing an iota of their own feelings. In actual life, if my husband ever tried some of that crap with me, I most likely would have run the hell away. He’s not Mr. Romance (long-winded declarations of love? Eh. Not for me.), but he’d never try and push me around like that. And it is interesting: I completely adore JR Ward’s vampires on the page, but real life would be another story. Yellow eyes? Tats on the face? Long, long hair on a guy to the small of his back? Ew. I love a polished man in a suit one hell of a lot more than I like the motorcycle look. And yet? JR Ward’s heroes are the most interesting and compelling men I’ve read. Maybe it’s like someone else said - all the “You’re mine” and bonding scents and posturing does something to a gal.

20. December/Stacia Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 10:00 pm

    20 Right, Tumperkin. Most romance heros wouldn’t get the time of day from me, no matter how hot they are (well, okay, they’d probably get the time of day, but once the burning or crying or stalking began it would be OVER). But in a book? Total LUST. Oh I agree Karla. I like a hero with a real streak of vicious violence, but it’s the thinking that’s really sexy. Definitely Murcia. It wasn’t so much that Spike was just plain hotter (although he was), it was the twinkle, the sense of fun and danger. Angel was a martyr, but Spike liked to play. Do you know, Jenn, I’ve never read a Black Dagger book? I keep thinking I will one of these days but I just haven’t gotten around to it. *Hides head in shame* Yep, Isa, I figured you’d like him! Lol Robyn. I do know he’d rather just kill the guy! That’s when he’s at his hottest. A guy that single-minded promises some great moments later!

21. December/Stacia Posted: Jul 10th, 2007 at 10:07 pm

    21 Bleh! Josie I haven’t read that one but I totally see your point! It does sound book-hot, but in real life, yech. I remember a guy I was dating once showing up unannounced at my house and that was creepy. And I’d been dating him, he wasn’t a one-night-stand. (Of course, I never had one night stands because I am such a good and pure girl. Lol.) SweetNSourGirl, that’s one of the best lists of attributes a hot hero needs I’ve read in a long time! Awesome! That’s what I like too. I agree Deemer. For a while I’ve wanted to write a comic geek hero who takes his dates to cons or something, but nobody would buy it! Because he wouldn’t be an uberalpha but he wouldn’t be all beta either, he’d just be a guy. Yellow eyes? I would think he was jaundiced. Nothing turns me off like advanced liver disease.

22. Noa Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 2:34 am

    22 I generally like ‘em nice? Both in romance novels and real life:). Alphas tend to come over as jerks and/or idiots to me, even in fiction. That said, I do love me some tortured psychos, as long as they’re not of the chest-breating drooling variety. (I know, I know, you never read about them drooling, but I sometimes get the feeling the author is just omitting that because, well, ew). I think that what really makes the difference is their intelligence. When heroes are smart, and even more when they acknowkedge the heroine’s intelligence, I’m willing to take a lot more alpha-behavior.

23. December/Stacia Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 5:33 am

    23 Oh, I agree, Noa. It makes Mr. In Charge much easier to take and like when he acknowledges that she can think on her own very well, and especially when he takes her opinions into account, even if he ends up overruling them.

24. Julie Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 9:28 am

    24 I like the tortured type as well. Hard on the outside, soft and messed up on the inside. Jenn L. mentioned J.R. Ward’s Z… definitely. Just like that.

25. Ann Bruce Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 10:27 am

    25 You had me at “He’s tall, and he’s dark.” *sigh*

26. Ann Bruce Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 10:30 am

    26 Okay, I lied. You had me with Daniel Craig’s pic. I’ve been in lust with the man since “Tomb Raider.” One day I’m going to put up the shower scene as my computer background. I just wish the table hadn’t been in the way.

27. dillene Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    27 I wonder- what does it say about us that we like men who have been through such hard times? Do romance novelists ever write about heroes who come from stable family backgrounds and are chipper, contented men? Would that even sell? “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them.” -Othello (Whoops! That romance ends badly.)

28. December/Stacia Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 12:51 pm

    28 Heh, Julie, me too. Soft and messed up on the inside is a great description. Almost like an M&M, and I loves me some M&Ms. You know, Ann, I think Daniel Craig is one of the first blond men I’ve ever found attractive? I like DARK. Dark hair, dark eyes…tall…mmmm. Hmm, Dillene…rescue fantasy? I’ve read books where the heroes were perfectly happy and well-adjusted, and enjoyed them, but those weren’t straight-up romances either. They were chick lit or Barbara Michaels. Maybe there’s not enough conflict in a regular guy to sustain a whole novel? Or, you know, rescue fantasy.

29. Ann Bruce Posted: Jul 11th, 2007 at 3:25 pm

    29 December, I always had it in my head that I prefer dark-haired men…until I took an inventory of my exes and realized they all had light-colored hair. They ranged from really pale brown to white blond. But when I read romance novels, I find myself looking for dark-haired heroes. Go figure.