Susan May Warren guest blogger

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.06.2008

Today, I have author Susan May Warren guest blogging about her latest romance, Taming Rafe!

From the back cover:

Two-time world champion bull rider Rafe Noble had no idea how quickly his world could end.

In less than eight seconds, he lost his title, his career, and his best friendall on the dirt floor of a noisy rodeo arena.

Katherine Breckenridge just wants to make a difference by running her mothers charity foundation. But the mysterious disappearance of half a million dollars has forced it to the brink of bankruptcy. Her last chance to save it is the annual fund-raiser, an event thats destroyed by an out-of-control Rafe Noble.

Desperate to rescue the foundation, Katherine heads to the Noble family ranch to enlist Rafes help in raising the money he cost her in lost donations. What she doesnt know is that Rafe is brokein cash and in spiritand that helping her could end up costing him his life.

And now, here’s Susan!

Macho Macho Men!

Nick. Rafe… and next it’ll be Lincoln. Who am I talking about? My newest heroes in my series, Noble Legacy, of course. But these are my alpha heroes – I also have Beta hero – Cole, John and in Finding Stefanie (out in July), Gideon.

I love heroes! Whether Alpha or Beta, they all have to have qualities that make my heart sing. We all know the basics of a great hero – a Noble Cause, a Flaw, a Fear, and Courage (and if you want to know more about these and how to use them, head over to my writing craft site – www.mybooktherapy.com). But what are my SMW secret ingredients that make a hero grab our hearts?

I can’t away all my secrets, but I’ll let you in on a couple:

For an Alpha Hero, I love it when a hero has to fight his inner values and sacrifice one of them for a woman. For example, his honor. Or his pride. Or his life. (although I always want them to live!) One of my favorite scenes in Taming Rafe is when, when Rafe is in his worst pain, he has to sacrifice his precious pride and confess to Kat that he is overwhelmed and can’t finish his competition. It makes him irresistible to me! (and Kat, too!)

For a Beta Hero, I love it when they do something surprising, something bold and brave, and alpha-like, something that they have to muster all their beta-courage to do. Like when John arrives in Phillips and realizes that Lolly isn’t there, and takes matters into his own hands and determines not to let life toss his heart around one moment longer. He gets on a plane and heads straight for the woman he loves.

I like to have a Beta hero for my stories because it shows that a man doesn’t have to be a chest-pounder to be heroic. But he also has to strand up for the woman he loves, even if (especially if!) it costs him. Gotta love those Alpha males.

What do you like in a hero? The answer to that question will be YOUR secret ingredient to your stories and creating your own Macho, Macho Men!

Pick up Taming Rafe and read Rafe and John’s story at your local Christian bookstore, or get a glimpse of chapter one at www.whosrafe.susanmaywarren.com!

Susan

Camy here: Thanks for being here, Susan!