Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Flawed Hero

Hi Everyone,

What is a flawed hero?  He is a man with flaws.  Simple! Everyone has flaws even our men. Even a hero in story if people are to relate to him.

In Webster’s Dictionary flawed means this: 1a. A defect in physical structure or form  1b. An imperfection or weakness and esp. that detracts from the whole or hinders effectiveness (vanity was the flaw in his character)

In the stories, I write none of my characters are flawless.  I need to know my characters flaws and strengths before I start a story. All movies and television shows have flawed characters the same as books.

One of my favorite shows, Covert Affairs on the USA channel has a flawed hero named Auggie.  Auggie is with the CIA, and he works with agents in the field from his desk.  He’s a computer nerd and he feeds information to the heroine who is out in the field. Sometimes, he even appears beside the heroine to help her. Auggie has two flaws, he’s blind and he’s a womanizer.  Being blind doesn’t stop him at all with the women or from doing his job.  Women are attracted to him because of his appearance (good looking), but doubly so when they realize he can’t see them.

One more thing about Auggie, he is not able to do everything that a person who sees can do, but his other senses are heightened, so what he does do is realistic.  One thing this program does is show that a blind person isn’t necessarily helpless. 

Another show, I enjoy is White Collar.  The hero is a con man, and he’s been in prison, but he’s released to the CIA to help solve other white collar crimes.  His flaw is he’s a con man (grin), but he has another one. He lost a woman, and he kept hunting for her until last season he learned the truth about her. Now, he’s moving on, but he’s got a secret, which could bring his life down again. He has decisions to make, and I hope he makes the right ones.

I’m going to use one of my books, The Catalyst, as an example of a flawed hero. His name is Walt. Walt is strong, was in the CIA but now works as head of security at a riverboat casino.  He has been in love with the casino owner since she was a kid, and he has never married or gone on with his life because of her.  This is his flaw to remain in a time warp waiting for her to come to him. True, she’s married, but what hero doesn’t take control, or is he right to wait. Patience is a virtue, isn’t it?

Jake, the hero in Addiction, is judgmental. He doesn’t like alcoholics and doesn’t believe the heroine can change. As the story unfolds, he grows to understand there are other reasons for the way she is, and vows to protect her from the serial killer who is after her.

In The Deceived, Mike has a lot of baggage going back to the loss of his parents. It is the reason he became an FBI agent. He works alone since he lost a partner he’d been involved with on a case.

Sometimes, the hero has minor defects in their character and often they have more than one.  To make our characters real, we must give them characteristics of real people. We give them strengths and weaknesses to deal with just like we do in our lives.\

Until next Sunday, enjoy your week. 

Sandra K. Marshall
Twitter - @SandraKMarshall



Saturday, July 16, 2011

Contest, Contest, Contest

2nd Annual Christmas in July _TWO_Contests!

Ends July 31st at Midnight.
We only snail mail items to the U.S. and Canadian addresses.
 CONTEST 1:  (Open to readers/unpublished writers, industry reps - NOT published authors unless you're already a RBRU Yahoo group member)  Prizes:  Amazon/Barnes & Noble $125.00 Gift Certificate, Christmas ornaments, decks of Ellora's Cave/Blush playing cards, RBRU hats, tee-shirts and tote bags. 
To enter:
 1.  Join RBRU yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancebooksrus
2. Visit http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com. Click on each of the 20 bloggers names left sidebar) to visit their sites.  Find the name of one of their books along with the names of the hero and heroine.  COLLECT THE 20 BLOGGER NAMES, BOOK NAMES, AND HERO AND HEROINE NAMES.  (If a blogger has two pen names, only do one).  In ONE email message, send all this information to contest.rbrus@gmail.com
CONTEST 2:  (Open to everyone, including published authors)  Prize:  Amazon/Barnes& Noble $25.00 Gift Certificate.
To enter:
 1.  Join RBRU Chat group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rbruchat  
2.   Become a Follower at our blog:  http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com
Don't you think we have fabulous gifts to offer?  We hope you come and enjoy.

Thank you for visiting.  Have a good week until next Sunday.

Sandy


Saturday, July 9, 2011

Are We Proud Americans?

Hello Everyone,
I’m a proud American.  I love my country.  Yes, we have problems.  Compared to other countries our troubles could be considered small.  That being said people in other nations live in really poor conditions.  We are having difficult times, but if we pull together like families in the fifties did instead of fighting one another, we’ll pull through like we always do.

Monday was July 4th, our independence day.  We celebrate our independence once a year. I happened to watch CNN news showing emigrants becoming U.S. citizens across the country. It was such a heartwarming scene to watch them raise their hands to become a legal member of our country. I listened to the reasons why they came to the United States.  Many of them left horrendous circumstances at home and came to America to start a new life, a new beginning.

These people believe in our country more than many of those who were born here.  Americans have become complainers, and we have that right only because of the country we live in.  We are able to say and protest against anything we want to.

The wonderful United States of America was founded by emigrants.  I have Dutch, German, English and I’ve heard there’s some French in my genes.  I hope that these new citizens never become as disgruntled as we have become.

I want to welcome all legal emigrants to our country. I hope you never become disappointed with us, and you always believe in our land as much as you do now. 

Sincerely,

Sandra K. Marshall, Author
http://www.skaymarshall.com
http://www.eirelander-publishing.com

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Happy July 4, 2011

Hi Everyone,

July 4th is the day, we Americans celebrate our independence from Britain.  This is the day where carnivals spring up all over the country and fireworks are lit.  Families get together for barbeques, hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans along with all the condiments. 

After the eating comes the fun. Usually, we'll play baseball, touch football, or go to the pool.  This is the way it was when I was a kid.  Today, things may be a little different since so many kids play on Play Station or Nintendo or computer games of some sort.  Whatever we do, we celebrate our freedoms. 

On this day, we must remember our boys and girls in the military who aren't at home to celebrate with their families.  We must remember all the ones who are still fighting for our independence. 

Here is a uTube video that expresses my sentiments:  http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay=1 I have been to this URL, and I believe this video was made by a fifteen year old girl named Lizzie Palmer. 

Warning:  You'll need a hankie for watching. 

I want to add my thanks to our armed forces for fighting for our country.  Once again here is a link to go to click on to help our veterans for free: http://www.theveteranssite.com/tpc/ERV_070311_VET

Huge hugs to all of you.

Best always,

Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.skaymarshall.com