Welcome Aboard

Well, this is my very first blog entry. I'm still working on trying to figure out what all kinds of gadgets and little add ons are going to be part of my blog. So don't be surprised if you see things change. Though, I anticipate for a while here, I'll probably just be talking to myself. That's alright, as I writer, I've gotten used to having conversations with myself.

If no one else reads this ever, at least this will make a good venting area for me to express my own frustrations about characters, plots and all the other little things that can drive me crazy. I hope though that others read this, especially other people who can relate to the creative process.

Currently, as far as writing projects go, I have a novella that I'm working on. I'm planning on it being a paranormal romance, and an introduction into what appears to be growing in my mind as a larger storyline. I've read numerous romance novels, as well as various paranormal stories and so I thought that combining the two genres would be a good niche for me to fall into. However, I've noticed a trend amongst several of the paranormal romance novels that I've read lately. Heroines that seem to be pretty but either dizzy or spineless, and heroes that are downright possessive and controlling. Have I been picking up the wrong books?

I seem concerned that this seems to be the normal approach to this, and when I address this concern to others, they seem to look at me like I'm crazy. I've been told things from that's how the world really is, to having too strong of a female is intimidating. While I don't consider myself to be a feminist by any means, and quite frankly I have a lot of what would be considered traditional ideas, I just don't understand why these female characters have to be portrayed in such a manner. Or that once they meet this dream man, their whole world seems to revolve around him. What's wrong with having a witty, intelligent female who is still a vulnerable person with possibly a life?

Also, the portrayal of the "super alpha male" persona bothers me. In a recent book that I read, every time the heroine came in contact with another male while her lover wasn't around, even if it was completely innocent, he would come back in the picture and start barking about her about how she smelled like another man. Perhaps I have a skewed perspective on this because the majority of my friends are male, so there would definitely be some issues between myself and my fiancee if he suddenly started complaining every time I was around another guy. Also, when the hero seems to constantly follow around the heroine without her knowing about it, and when she does find out, she thinks it's just swell that he's been keeping such a close eye on her. I believe most states have laws against stalking.

I understand from my own writing, that sometimes it can be difficult to portray some of these things. Trying to balance out having a stronger female character, without making the male seem effeminate, trying to reach a balance of communication without obsession, showing characters both being tough and compassionate. Any tips or suggestions from other writers on how to do this would of course be greatly appreciated. I understand that romance is suppose to be a fantasy relationship, but do other women really fantasize about the male in their life taking control of their existence? About being able to blindly throw themselves in harms way and just expecting them to save the day? Perhaps my greatest concern is the perception that this gives people for their own personal relationships. I know that if I ever expected my fiancee to live up to the expectations that I got out of some romance novels, our relationship would have been through ages ago. When a series of books goes on, featuring the same couple after a while, shouldn't it portray some of the more realistic aspects of the relationship as well? Then again, I suppose if we all just wanted to look at the realistic aspects of a relationship, we'd look at our own relationships, instead of loosing ourselves to the passion that these books portray.

Any questions, or comments, feel free to post responses. I would request of course that responses are done in a respectable manner.