Heidi Rice, Guest Blogger :: Turning Bad Boys into Alpha Men

Okay, here’s the thing. I can’t pretend to be an expert at writing Presents. I’ve only just had my fifth novel accepted and after hearing from wonderful writers such as Chantelle Shaw, Margaret Mayo and Kate Walker who’ve blogged here already this month that makes me a rookie. But that said, I know I love the line, I love writing for it and one of the things I love about it the most — as both a reader and a writer — are those scintillating, sensational alpha heroes in all their different guises.

But now I’ve got a confession to make. My first love was the bad boy—ever since I first drooled over Paul Newman in The Long Hot Summer when I was 13 (I have to admit here, I’ve drooled over him in that movie several times since) — and on that subject I am an expert. Because once hooked, I made it my mission in life to do some serious research on the bad boy (you see, I’m prepared to sacrifice a lot for my craft). I watched and devoured James Dean in East of Eden, Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront and Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven. So, when I first sat down to try and write a category romance, it made complete sense to me that I’d want my hero to be a bad boy. Tough, taciturn and dangerously irresistible, the bad boy was the archetype that I adored. With his battered cowboy boots, his worn jeans, his t-shirt stretched across rippling biceps and that oh-so-sexy glint of mischief in his eye, he oozed smoldering sexuality from every pore. Have I got you drooling yet too?

But straight away there was a problem. Because the bad boy by definition is a boy and the Presents hero — so beloved of readers, and the hero I wanted to create — is most definitely a man. I wanted to write my book for women, as well as girls, and that meant turning my bad boy into a full-blooded alpha male.

I wanted my guy to have baggage, to have had to overcome some tough things in his past, but I had to make sure he wasn’t crippled by self-doubt. I wanted him to be a good guy beneath that bad, devil-may-care exterior, tender as well as tough, but not a pushover. And I wanted him to have a vulnerability hidden behind his self-confidence, but I didn’t want him to be a wimp in wolf’s clothing. Because, let’s face it, no Presents reader is gonna find that sexy. He’d had to struggle yes, but he’d survived and any scars he had were buried deep. So deep it was going to take one hell of a heroine to find them and make him confront them.

So what did I end up with? I hope what I have is alpha heroes who have the dangerous sex appeal, the wild, reckless charm of bad boys but are all grown up.

Guys like Zack Boudreaux from The Tycoon’s Very Personal Assistant. A tall, dark and drop-dead gorgeous ex-gambler turned hotel tycoon. A guy who expects to be in charge, who is demanding, domineering and devilishly charming with it. A guy who knows everything about how to charm a woman into his bed and then keep her there, but knows absolutely nothing about love. Because beneath that self-confidence, that take-charge attitude is a guy who can’t allow himself to be vulnerable because as a kid he learned one crucial lesson in life: ‘love is for suckers’.

And once I’ve got a guy like Zack, then I get to create the perfect heroine for him. A woman who can push his buttons and then some, who can frustrate him and challenge him and well, frankly, drive him nuts. And that’s when the fun really starts… 

Watch for Heidi Rice’s upcoming Harlequin Presents March 2009 release, Pleasure, Pregnancy and a Proposition. And be sure to visit either Heidi’s website or her blog for more about what’s going on with her!

Tagged as: alpha men, bad boy heroes, Harlequin Presents, Heidi Rice, Mills & Boon, The Tycoon's Very Personal Assistant