I know the "rules" are quite a bit looser in chick lit than they are in romance, but what are all your feelings on a love interest who might not be the perfect ideal of alpha male studliness? Frankly, I get bored with the stereotypical heroes in most romances, but I'm not sure how well someone who isn't the be-all, end-all of hotness is going to go over in a romance subplot. I'm picturing the love interest in my novel as being attractive and highly intelligent, but he's more than a little kooky, as he's a UFO expert who sees alien conspiracies in everything. :-P
I'd love to hear your opinions.
----------
"I wanted to sell out, but no one would buy me."—John Waters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
118,026 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2007 - 02 23
I love it. While I still enjoy a good studly stallion, flourishing personalities are also extremely attractive.
Just so long as you've got some common traits which people who don't appreciate the kooky thing can relate to.
----------I iz teh Batman. I haz built-in pecs.
2007: Waddle 118K
50,695 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2007 - 05 28
I love the idea of a kooky love interest. Seriously, I've heard the Chick Lit is really starting to break out of its "Park Ave Socialite falls in love with the gazillionaire" mold (thank God!). I absolutely think it would work. All you have to do is give him great qualities. Sense of humor, caring personality and - most important - he thinks your MC is just about the coolest thing ever (and this doesn't have to blatant, it can be subtle.) It might also help to have another potential love interest floating around in the backdrop that is the be-all, end-all of hotness, but is an utter ass. That way you'll have the reader going "Go for the kooky guy!" (who, by the way, thinks be-all, end-all hot guy is really an alien.)
I'm totally seeing Mulder from Xfiles. Love it! Go you!
---------------
"Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." ~Sylvia Plath
like a nice dose of babble?
cursinginheels.blogspot.com
80,078 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2007 - 08 04
I feel the same way. I'm going to try to poke a little fun at typical romance heros/ heroines in my novel.
Michelle
18,411 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2007 - 09 13
The GOOD chick lit that I have read usually doesn't involve a Mr. Perfect. It involves a dude who is perfect for the main character for whatever reason but is also a real person which means he has quirks and flaws as well.
----------Read along as I write at therotund.com.
img src="http://nowrists.com/n7.cfm/141/Blue/AddEta/n.png" width="400" height="100" border="0" alt="My NaNoWriMo Progress" />
50,991 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2007 - 10 44
I'm all about the goofy love interests! The guy in my story definitely isn't rich and he doesn't have the perfect career, etc etc etc. He's a geeky (Italian ;D ) guy working at a cafe (a bit of a cliche, sure), living in a one-bedroom apartment on his own. He's attractive (like I said, Italian...), very intelligent... but is a geek and thus doesn't have everything going for him (socially speaking), and isn't necessarily the kind of person all women would fall for.
I say, break the stereotype!
5,289 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2007 - 14 22
Thanks for your input, everyone! I'll try to strike that delicate balance between adorable geekiness and outright weirdo. :-P
The idea about having a second love interest who might look better on the surface but who in reality is completely wrong for my lead character is a great one, too -- it's given me a few more things to think about.
----------"I wanted to sell out, but no one would buy me."—John Waters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~