Hump Day Hunk - Blue Collar Heroes

Wow. Its been a long time since I've posted. I want to first thank everyone for continuing to make Heartbreak Ranch a success. I am so glad you have fallen head over heels for Colt McCord :) and although I've featured him in my Hump Day Hunk posts from time to time, today I would like to focus on a different kind of romance novel hero.

While the world is abuzz with the scenes being filmed for Fifty Shades of Grey's big screen adaptation and women everywhere are fantasizing about self-made billionaire Christian Grey, some of us are looking for a man more grounded in reality. While I love stories where a rich man whisks away some beautiful diamond in the rough girl, I also like a story that has a bit more realism. It pushes me as the writer to be more creative. The grand gestures of love don't fall into the same category. Its easy to write a story where the hero gifts his love interest with a whirlwind trip to Paris or expensive jewelry or a new luxury car. But, I think there is a lot of wonderful emotional moments that get missed in all the extravagance.

For one of my next manuscripts I plan on making the male hero someone more down to earth. A man who is strong and works with his hands and knows the value of a promise. He lives to make his love happy and knows that she prefers something he's fashioned for her out of steel instead of store bought because it holds special meaning. My next male hero will be a welder who has an artistic bent and creates beautiful pieces of art from metal. Have you seen the things a welder can do when he unleashes his creative side? Take a look at some of the work on Etsy by artisan welders, like this amazing North Star. Could you imagine falling for a man who could craft something so amazing?

What do you think about creating a male character who is more grounded in reality? Could you fall for a fisherman, or a construction worker, or a welder?