Writers Tricks of the Trade January-February 2015 | Page 14

PRESS “CONTROL” THEN CLICK BUY TO PURCHASE THE BOOK MAKE THE GUYS IN YOUR NOVELS MORE ROMANTIC (CONT’D) 7. Don’t make the hero perfect. Let him have a weird laugh and a crooked smile. An irrational fear of snakes made Indiana Jones more interesting. 8. Don’t create a he-man. I hesitate to use the terms – feminine and masculine personality traits, because psychologists now doubt any trait can be called totally feminine or masculine. Anyway, heroes who are sensitive, occasionally emotional, and nurturing are more attractive to many women than the classic strong, silent type. BUY The next points from the survey are a bit silly, but I suspect could spice up the image of a romantic male character. 9. Have the male character hug the heroine from behind instead of kissing her. HAVE FUN DEVELOPING INTERESTING HEROES. Ultimately, if the male characters you develop are interesting to you, they probably will also be attractive and romantic to others. Check out my new thriller, Malignancy, set partially in modern Cuba and see how well I took my own advice. BUY Men disguised as police officers shoot at Sara Almquist twice in one day. Albuquerque police suspect Jim Mazzone, a drug czar who Sara has tangled with several times, will order more hits on Sara. Thus when colleagues in the State Department invite Sara to arrange scientific exchanges between the U.S. and Cuba, she jumps at the chance to get out of town and to see the mysterious Xave Zack, who rescued her in Bolivia. Maybe, she should question their motives. Malignancy is available at Amazon http://amzn.com/1610091779 and Oak Tree Press: [email protected]. ABOUT J. L. GREGER As a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I honed my story-telling skills as I lectured to bleary-eyed students at 8:30 in the morning. Students remember chemical reactions better when the instructor attaches stories to the processes. Now I have two great passions – my Japanese Chin dog, Bug, and travel. I’ve included both in my novels: Coming Flu, Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight, Ignore the Pain, and Malignancy. You can learn more about me at my website: www.jlgreger.com and blog (JL Greger’s Bugs): www.jlgreger.com. I also answer question directed to: [email protected]. JAN-FEB 2015 PAGE 6 WRITERS TRICKS OF THE TRADE