Saturday 29 May 2010

Male Blond Fest.

Reading a lot of HM&B novels one can see that blond heroes get a rough deal in the HM&B hero stakes. So, I thought I'd have a blond fest of oldies and newbies to the blond movie star stakes, and perhaps some of you out there might look kindly on having a blond hero in your Modern Heat etc.

Take a moment to study these newer faces that have hit the big screen and TV channels on a regular basis. What if anything do you like about a specific face and the individual's attractive qualities. Could you see them as inspiration for a hero in one of your novels?
















































Let's face it some of these older faces have drawn sighs, ahhhs and "oh god he's simply delicious" like statements.



So, what's wrong in having a blond hero?















I've omitted Sean Bean from the oldie listing (can be seen below in previous historical related post)because I'll probably be accused of obsessing over him!!!


Post your thoughts and let's find out if blond males are out of fashion!

22 comments:

Wendy Tyler Ryan said...

Out of all of them, Sean Bean and "James Bond" are my fav's. I don't like Brad Pitt at all, so he would not be on my list. And it is odd that you mention it, but I have never written a blind hero. someone who should be on the list is Vigo Mortensen - but not the short cropped gangster looking Vigo - the dirty, unshaven Lord of the Rings Vigo. lol

Wendy Tyler Ryan said...

Sorry, that should have read BLOND hero NOT BLIND hero. I promise, I have better proofreading skills, I just didnt' use them!

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Wendy,

Oh those damn typos do catch us out with fast blog messaging!

No, I'n not BP lover either.

Do like Simon Baker's little boy lost look, though - endearing smile, and he looks good in a suit!

best
F

Ju Dimello said...

Hey Francine,

My latest hero is a blond and like it or not, I fell for him too ;) that I'd probably love to write a sequel !!!

Am okay with any hero for that matter - blond or not, as long as he is delicious ;)

Kate Hardy said...

Apparently, blond heroes are a hard sell, and it's rare to get a blond hero on the cover. I wrote a blond a couple of years back ("The Doctor's Tender Secret") but he didn't appear on the cover.

Apparently long hair is out, either (otherwise I'd suggest Robert Plant and Joe Elliott as superb models - I'm thinking Joe about 1995 in the Wapentake set on YouTube. Not that I sigh over that. Much...). Whenever I've had heroes with long hair, my editor's given them a haircut! ;o)

Thanks for sharing the lovely pics!

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Kate,

Thanks for dropping by the blond male fest!

Being as the likes of the Rupert Penry Jones' are hot property in the UK and the States, (vast numbers of blond worshipping fans worldwide) what editor wouldn't want a face such as his on the cover of a book?

Are you saying it's an HM&B discrimination tingy? It must be, because I haven't experienced a ban on blond heroes or long haired heroes elsewhere.
best
F

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Ju,

It seems there are huge numbers of blond male fans worldwide if Rupert Penry Jones' popularity ia anything to judge by, though as yet few fans owning up to blond enthusiasm on here.

As Kate pointed out they're not popular with editors!!! :(

best
F

Roni Loren said...

I love a blonde hero and one of my WIPs does have one. My current fave blondies are Alexander Skarsgard (Eric on True Blood), Matt Damon, and Casey from this season of American Idol. Yum. :)

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Roni,

Thanks so much for dropping by and supporting the blond male for hero post.

Love your blog, but how do you find the time to keep posting daily? Wow! Such writing energy! ;)
best
F

Unknown said...

Hi Francine - just dropping by to add my support to the Beleaguered Blond Boys! I had a blond hero in my second book, (Angelo in The Italian's Captive Virgin, modelled loosely on beautiful but boyish Alex Pettyfer) and I utterly adored him. However, given the Italian reference in the title it did rather fly in the face of reader expectation, and certainly the art department seemed to have struggled to find a suitable cover model! (I'm trying to be charitable here...)

I guess the huge popularity of mediterranean heroes means that the blonds inevitably get slightly sidelined, but there's definitely room for a blond hero in the right story and setting. Go for it!

Kerrin said...

Hi Francine
My hero, Cooper is blonde! i love blondes and don't think they get enough attention in the books you are so right! i don't particularly like the ones you have chosen but that comes down to personal taste ;) Jensen Ackles is my current blonde inspiration!
best Kerrin

Francine Howarth said...

Hi India,

Thanks for supporting the blond male for HM&B hero petition!

Yeah, I can see how the art department might not equate blond with Italian hero, but not all countries surrounding the med have 100% dark-haired men. There are blond Greeks, and blond Arabs - the latter maybe throwback hee hee to WWII and allied occupation of foreign forces.

It'll be interesting to see how the art department copes with some authors' recent proposed novels set in Scandinavia and East European countries (as mentioned on Ihearts blog), because blond blue-eyed men are sort of obligatory if reflecting the male of the species for that region. ;)

best
F

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Kerrin,

Ha ha, you're the third writer to admit your present hero is blond.

The above blonds were merely an example! Sorry there wasn't one of your favourites among them.

In old M&B books blonds were quite common and can be seen depicted on front covers: take a peek at Paula Martin's web page. Paula wrote for HM&B in the early days, and like us trying her luck with HM&B again.

http://paulamartinromances.webs.com/

You can also see a post by Paula on the Pink Hearts blog!

best
F

Lydia Kang said...

Yes, good to devote a post to the blondies. They are out there but they need to be grouped together like this, sort of like a big box of Godiva Chocolates.
Sweet.

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Lydia,

Thanks for stopping by in suport of blond heroes!

I can think of one or two of the above who'd go down well coated in chocolate. ;)

best
F

Anonymous said...

Ha ha, Francine

Chicken!!

Where's Sean Bean? As if I'd suggest you were obsessed with the man :o)

Blond heroes banned by Harlequin Mills & Boon.

What a timely headline for a certain well known UK writing magazine! Happen a query needs to be lodged to the powers that be at HM&B. Why no mention of a blond hero ban within the writer guidelines?

BTW. I'm a RPJ fan. So glad he's billed top listing.

cheers

Beverly

Unknown said...

I had a sexy, blond hero in my WiP, but he quit the project a few months back. Maybe I need to rethink the main hero...he could be blond, now that I think of it!

Fun post -- love the pics!

Francine Howarth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Francine Howarth said...

Hi Nicole,

Thanks for dropping by in support of blond heroes!

Blond hero quit the project?

Oh you didn't? How could you?

best
F

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Bev,

Bloody typos - I posted jibberish beforehand.

I just knew you'd get in a mention on SB: when you finally got around to my blog.

Me too, fan of RPJ. Though must confess to drooling over Peter O'Toole in the movie Lawrence of Arabia. But I'm still not a fan of Sheikh storylines, not in a romantic novel.

best
F

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Oh, my - heart is all aflutter after that. Daniel Craig's my favourite - but am also quite keen on Robert Redford (espcially in The Way We Were and Barefoot In The Park).

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Suzanne,

Yep, Robert Redford certainly had the call in most of his movies.

Not sure DC will last as long as RR in movie terms, hasn't the latest Bond movie been axed?

best
F