Ingredients Of A Perfect Hero, part three: Protector

We've covered the first two ingredients of a perfect hero, compassion and being a warrior. This time we're covering the last one, the hero as a protector. I tried to find a picture, but struck out. Nothing captured what I was going for.

Webster's defines protector as "one who protects." That's helpful, but let's take it a step further and look at protect. "To keep (someone or something) from being harmed, lost, etc." This is better and gives us something to work with.

Since we're dealing with romance heroes it's usually a someone he wants to protect. The heroine, others he cares about, and to a lesser extent himself.

Protect is NOT a synonym for smother. Nor is it a synonym for controlling asshole who won't let the heroine stand on her own or face anything. A protector hero is one willing to put himself between the heroine and harm's way, to take an injury meant for her, to have her back, and to be there to help her if/when she needs it.

I read Transcendence by Shay Savage over the weekend, and it was one of the best examples I've ever seen of a protector hero. The hero, Ehd, is a cave man. With no ability to process speech. It was amazing and one of the best books I've ever read. All he knows is hunting and protecting what's his. He loves his heroine. He learns from her. She also literally saves his life.

Ehd's first thought every morning when he wakes up is to protect his Beh. In the pre-historic world, if you had no one to protect you, you didn't live very long. He protects her from wild animals, from winter, and from another man who tries to rape her. He even tries to protect her while their baby daughter is dying, by holding her and not leaving her to deal with it alone. And he does it all without diminishing her strength.

It's a beautiful novel. Go buy it. Ehd is everything a romance hero should be. It's also a novel told 100% in the hero's perspective, until the epilogue.

In my novel, My Name Is A'yen, A'yen is a protector. His species has been genetically manipulated for centuries to produce certain physical characteristics such as increased strength and height. The males of his species already have strong protective instincts and many of them are conditioned to make those instincts even stronger. Fae, the heroine, buys A'yen for the express purpose of protecting her while she heads up an archaeological dig on an alien planet.

He doesn't protect her by hovering or smothering or forcing her to do things his way. He does it with patience and compassion. By putting himself between her and perceived physical danger. He even does it by sacrificing his own needs to ensure her reputation isn't ruined.

When you combine compassion, a warrior outlook, and the heart of a protector, you have a recipe for romance hero magic. These are the qualities that make us swoon over a hero and give him the honor of book boyfriend.

Rachel Leigh Smith writes romance for the hero lover. She lives in central Louisiana with her family and a half-crazed calico. When not writing, which isn’t often, she’s hanging with her family, doing counted cross-stitch, or yakking about life, the universe, and everything with her besties. Her debut novel, My Name Is A'yen, is available at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Google Play, iBooks, and Smashwords.

She blogs sporadically at www.rachelleighsmith.com, can be found on Twitter @rachelleighgeek, and hangs out on Facebook. You can sign up for her newsletter here.

Ingredients Of A Perfect Hero, part two: The Warrior

Last month I covered compassion as the first ingredient of a perfect hero. This time I'm looking at what it means to be a warrior hero. The warrior/protector archetype is the one I'm most drawn to as a reader, and as an author. It's also the archetype my dad fulfills in my own life. Which tells you everything you need to know about why it's my favorite. I'm a daddy's girl.

Image courtesy of maniaroom
via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For many people the word warrior brings up images of knights and soldiers and cops and firefighters. And for good reason. Merriam-Webster defines warrior as this: a person who fights in battles and is known for having courage and skill.

The expanded definition includes this: a man engaged or experienced in warfare; broadly: a person engaged in some struggle or conflict.

Our final definition is for the archetype of Warrior, via Tami Cowden. "The WARRIOR: a noble champion, he acts with honor. This man is the reluctant rescuer or the knight in shining armor. He's noble, tenacious, relentless, and he always sticks up for the underdog. If you need a protector, he’s your guy. He doesn’t buckle under to rules, and he doesn’t go along just to get along. Think Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, Russell Crowe in Gladiator, Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

(I highly recommend her pages about Heroine Archetypes and Hero Archetypes. When I started fitting characters into these categories a whole new world of plotting and conflict opened up for me.)

Now that you know where I'm going, off we go!

To have a hero fit this archetype he does NOT have to be in the military, or be a cop, or an enforcement agent of any kind. He is a man engaged in some kind of struggle or conflict. What is good fiction? Conflict. To be a warrior, the hero faces this conflict head-on. He doesn't hide from it or try to wish it away. He wades into the fray, digs in, and fights with everything he is and every skill he has. Because he knows no other way. He couldn't live with himself if he gave up.

This is a man who isn't afraid to face outward struggles. That doesn't mean he never knows fear, it means he knows how to not let it paralyze him. It means he's capable of making sacrifices, and is willing to make them. A warrior also fights for the underdog and those less well off than him, no matter the circumstance.

A good warrior does it with compassion, as we talked about last month.

Even warriors have flaws, though, and flaws make us love characters. A warrior hero may be unafraid of facing external conflict, but facing the internal conflict brought up by the heroine can scare the pants off him. When he acknowledges this fear, and uses his warrior skills and mindset to face it anyway, we love him all the more.

One important thing to remember. Archetypes are NOT defined by their actions. They're defined by their motivations. For the warrior, his motivation is often linked to protecting those he loves, protecting what he considers his, or trying to right some injustice done to him or someone he loves. And this is just what I came up with typing. If I sat and really thought about it and dug deep I could make a pretty big list.

In my novel My Name Is A'yen, A'yen is a warrior. Often a reluctant warrior, but still a warrior. He fights the injustice of slavery at every opportunity, usually with words because he's a smart-ass who has trouble keeping his mouth shut. To him actions are intimate things and never to be displayed in public.

Fighting for the person he loves is a new concept for him. He loved someone before he met Fae, and that person acted as a warrior-protector of him. A'yen knows what it looks like to sacrifice and be fought for. It slowly dawns on him no one has ever done it for Fae. When his internal desire to be free collides with his external desire to keep Fae safe so she can prove she's found his species' home-world, he meets the challenge and becomes a sacrificial warrior. 

What is he sacrificing? His personal freedom, because if Fae is destroyed his personal freedom remains unattainable. His motivations are complimentary, but at the same time at odds with each other. He wants to be seen as more than a slave, yet making this sacrifice leaves him as nothing more than a slave. This tension in his goals and motivation is part of what has reviewers raving about the novel. It makes him real and three-dimensional.

It's stepping up and facing the challenge head-on, instead of backing down or finding another way, that shows A'yen is a warrior. It's not enough for me to tell the reader he's a warrior. He has to have the actions to prove it.

Question for you: Who's your favorite warrior archetype hero? He can be from any medium.

Next month we'll look at the hero as a protector.

Rachel Leigh Smith writes romance for the hero lover. She lives in central Louisiana with her family and a half-crazed calico. When not writing, which isn’t often, she’s hanging with her family, doing counted cross-stitch, or yakking about life, the universe, and everything with her besties. Her debut novel, My Name Is A'yen, is available at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Google Play, iBooks, and Smashwords.

She blogs sporadically atwww.rachelleighsmith.com, can be found on Twitter @rachelleighgeek, and hangs out on Facebook. You can sign up for her newsletter here.

Meet the #Author Monday - Rachel Leigh Smith #giveaway #scifi #romance

Please tell us a bit about yourself:

Well, I live in central Louisiana with my family. I have a half-crazed calico named Zoe. Currently I’m catching up on the TV show Arrow so I can jump in watching the third season and watch The Flash spin-off. I’m the oldest of four, and a massive Dark-Hunter fan.

Tell us about My Name Is A’yen:

It’s the hero’s story, A’yen. And he’s a humanoid alien. His life has been on hold for the last year, and he’s mourning the death of his lover when he meets the heroine, Fae. She’s looking for A’yen’s homeworld. That he doesn’t believe is real. Along the way he discovers there’s more to her than meets the eye, and he comes to believe his homeworld was real, and that they’ve found it. But of course it’s not that easy. There’s a powerful group that doesn’t want this planet found, and they’ll stop at nothing to make sure it remains a myth.

What inspired you to write this particular story?:

A’yen walked into my head in a dream on the night of May 16, 2012. I was spinning my wheels on the novel I was working on at the time, and decided to dive into this strange world and see what happened. Every day was an adventure, because I had no idea what was going to happen next.

Please share a favourite snippet from your book:

Pink tinted her cheeks, she stared at her shoes, and her fingers stopped their gentle massage. A’yen lifted her chin with his finger, to see her eyes. “We weren’t that loud. Pete is very good at tall tales.” He ran the tip of his thumb along the bottom of her lip. “The point is, the way I talk to people above me terrifies my mother. It’s a miracle my mouth hasn’t gotten me killed.”

Pete giggle-snorted. “It almost did that one time. Remember? I went down with you and Wayan to a festival on Centron.”

A’yen grinned at the memory. “Oh yeah. I told the governor’s wife if she didn’t get her hands off my ass and out of my pants I was going to break her fingers.”

Fae covered her mouth in a failed attempt to stifle a laugh. “I bet you did.”

“In my defense, I had no idea who she was, but her bodyguard had me on the ground in two seconds and almost broke my fingers. Then I had to apologize to her and the governor before they’d let me leave. If the governor hadn’t found it so funny, I’d be dead.”

Which comes first for you – a character's looks, personality or name?:

For my heroes, they come to me with all three. Looks, personality, and name. The heroine I usually have looks and name right off, but finding her personality is often a challenge. With Fae, A’yen’s heroine, it took two drafts and a class at a writer’s conference to figure her out. Sometimes I still feel like I don’t know her as well as I should.

Any tips for aspiring authors?:

Finish your first draft!

Questions for fun:

If you had the power of time travel, is there anything you would go back and change? Why/why not?:

I wouldn’t change anything. I’ve watched too much Doctor Who and Star Trek and learned my lessons about changing the past. It never works out like you intend. There is one event in my own life I wouldn’t mind erasing, but at the same time without that event I wouldn’t be where I am. And I don’t want to lose where I am.

What super-power would you choose?:

Flying! Then I could go see my besties in Iowa and New York whenever I want.

If you could have three wishes, what would they be?:

Hmm.... I really don’t know. All I know is I would abide by Genie’s three rules from Aladdin: No wishing for more wishes. No wishing for someone to fall in love with me. And no wishing to raise the dead.

Coffee, tea or wine?:

None of the above. Coke and hot chocolate are my weaknesses. And I’m in love with a drink at a local restaurant chain called Sex in the City.

What is your favourite book? (aside from one of your own!):

That’s like asking a mom to pick a favorite child! Currently, I guess I’d have to pick Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I have a MAJOR crush on Ash. As in before I started answering these questions I downloaded a wallpaper of his god seal from Sherri’s website...

Favourite genre and why?:

Romance! It’s 98% of what I read. I love everything about it. When I’m reading a book that’s not romance, or doesn’t have a strong romance sub-plot, it can be a chore at times to make progress on it. I’ve been working on A Storm of Swords for a month now.

Favourite colour?:

Purple. Most of my clothes are purple, my computer is purple, my Nook cover is purple, my favorite eyeshadow set is purple, the quilt on my bed is purple, my favorite hoodie is purple. I kind of have a problem...

Upcoming news and plans for the future?:

Books two and three of A’yen’s Legacy will be out next year, and there are more to come! I have four and a half written, and another two planned. And I’m sure there will be more after that, I just haven’t met the characters yet. There’s also a prequel story I hope to get up some time next year as a permanent freebie. I’m looking forward to attending my first RWA conference next year too.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us!

Thank you for having me.

Bio: Rachel Leigh Smith writes romance for the hero lover. She lives in central Louisiana with her family and a half-crazed calico. When not writing, which isn’t often, she’s hanging with her family, doing counted cross-stitch, or yakking about life, the universe, and everything with her besties. There may also be Netflix binging . . .

She blogs sporadically at www.rachelleighsmith.com, can be found on Twitter @rachelleighgeek, and hangs out on Facebook, www.facebook.com/rachelleighsmithauthor. You can sign up for her newsletter here.

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Blurb:

They've taken everything from him. Except his name.

The Loks Mé have been slaves for so long, freedom is a distant myth A'yen Mesu no longer believes. A year in holding, because of his master's murder, has sucked the life from him. Archaeologist Farran Hart buys him to protect her on an expedition to the Rim, the last unexplored quadrant.

Farran believes the Loks Mé once lived on the Rim and is determined to prove it. And win A'yen's trust. But she's a breeder's daughter and can't be trusted.

Hidden rooms, information caches and messages from a long-dead king change A'yen's mind about her importance. When she's threatened he offers himself in exchange, and lands on the Breeder's Association's radar. The truth must be told. Even if it costs him his heart.

Question for readers: Who is your favorite romance hero?

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