Perfect heroines

Captain’s Log, Stardate 09.04.2005

What is it about perfect heroines that annoys me so much?

I just read a Bombshell that was rather entertaining, but the heroine bugged me after a while. She’d made mistakes in her past, had a pissy attitude problem, and a lot of crappy things had happened to her. Okay, cool backstory.

But during the novel, she did everything well. She had no hang-ups. She had no weaknesses. She met every challenge with strength and bravery and super-human skill.

She had insecurities, and while she was confident, she wasn’t insufferably arrogant about her abilities. But the fact she didn’t have much character growth didn’t endear her to me. Her only internal conflict was her still-burning flame for her ex-lover, who had betrayed her years earlier.

Maybe I missed the grand Black Moment. If so, it wasn’t very black, and she didn’t change very much from it.

Now I know why the writing books say that spiritual/emotional arc is so important. It’s not necessarily for the 3-dimensionality of the character—because the Bombshell heroine was very real to me—but I didn’t relate to her at all. That kind of relating to a protagonist has nothing to do with her super skills, which I’ll certainly never have. It’s in her emotional state, which puts everyone on the same level, regardless of talents.

I relate to, say, Wonder Woman, because under her beauty and strength, she’s got emotional baggage just like me. I don’t need a protagonist as unathletic as I am in order to relate to her. I can relate to an Olympic gold medalist if she has the same kind of internal struggles I face.

I am reading with a more critical eye these days. Trying to delve deep and figure out why I put a book down or feel dissatisfied even when the craft is technically perfect.

Reading for pleasure is harder, now, because I’m so critical. But I’m wasting less time on books that are not up to par—I don’t have the reading time to throw away on stories I won’t enjoy or learn from. And when I do find a book that sucks me in and keeps me hooked to the last page, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. What a rush.

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I’m done

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.17.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is THE PREACHER’S DAUGHER by Lyn Cote My Monday book giveaway is BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER by Mindy Starns Clark . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THE PREACHER’S DAUGHTER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. I’m done. At the beginning of the year, I made a goal of three books this year. That’s four months per book. I started this manuscript January 15th. I finished in the wee hours of May 17th, so it took me about four months, a day and a few hours. Yay me. I’m going to bed now. Yes, this is the espresso maker on the right, and a professional coffee grinder on the left. By the espresso maker, I mean the one I promised to my long-suffering husband if I got a book contract, as a reward for letting me quit my biotech job and write full-time.

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