Among the writers I know (all of whom are women and write romance in some form or other), there are quite a few of us who are guilty of falling in love with hero stories. By which I mean that we very often come up with stories that have the hero and heroine and the requisite romance (for whatever subgenre we write in), but when it comes down to who the story is really about, it’s all about the hero.
My last WIP before HiS, Til Death, was a great example of this. That book was all about Wyatt. It revovled around him and his experiences with a ghost (and all the psychological fallout related to it). I adore Wyatt. I liked Marin (the heroine). She’s a nice girl. She even has a lot of me in her. But I only had eyes for Wyatt. Even HiS began as Conall’s story. When I first envisioned it, I could see all this wonderful psychological change and struggle to accept what he is. Coming up with a one line summary for HiS from his POV was easy. I still haven’t figured out what the one line summary is for Marley, even though I know the story to be more about her.
Among favorite reads, hero stories are favorites of mine. Lord, how many of Nora’s books and trilogies center around the men (whom she writes so well)? Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series, totally about the men. J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood–I mean the women aren’t chopped liver, but we’re reading for the men.
What I want to know is if there exists a similar dynamic among men. Among male writers, are there authors who prefer writing about heroines instead of heroes? I mean some of this depends, I suppose on exactly what they are writing. Most men don’t write romance. But really, do they ever have this pull to read about women? To write about them? Are they ever more interested in the heroine’s story than the hero’s?
I guess what made me start to wonder about it is J.A. Konrath, a male author whose series character is a woman Lt. Jacqueleine “Jack” Daniels. I haven’t gotten to Whiskey Sour yet, though it’s floating around in the abyss that is my TBR pile. As I don’t read many men, I have little to no reading experience to draw from, so I’d like to hear from you. Any male writers out there who’d like to comment? Anybody who’s read books by men where the main character was a woman?
This inquiring mind wants to know.