What makes a hero in fiction? Lots of things. We love our larger-than-life men, our warriors, our wounded heroes who need to be redeemed. We love the exotic and out-of-our-ordinary.

I had a conversation with a young woman the other day and she was out at a club with friends for a send off. A young man who’d love to have a special woman, was heading off for months in the Canadian Rockies to run a remote fishing camp. He wore a cowboy hat, though he’s not a cowboy and we live nowhere near an area with cowboys.

Now, cowboys are not this young woman’s ‘thing’, so she bit her tongue and off they all went. She was shocked at how many young women responded to the hat! “Hey, cowboy … love the hat!” while trailing their fingers down his chest. (He didn’t quite get the come-on *see earlier blog post about flirting…not all men get our signals)

Our discussion turned to men and what women find appealing. I voted for cowboy hats, because I’m city born and bred and Stetsons are exotic to me. Other women love uniforms. (Me, not so much . . . cops in the family.)

Another recent conversation revolved around a young woman’s new man. He took a good look at her car recently and declared it unsafe for her to drive. He fixed it. In her mid-twenties now, she’s never had that experience before. She confessed that no man she’s ever dated took care of her in that way. She LIKED it! Many oohs and aahs!

To me, that car-fixer is a real hero. A keeper. Thing is, that no matter what all the scientific theories are about attraction and opposites and choosing our mates, I believe women want to know that they and their offspring will be cared for. Now, if you’ve got a man who fixes things with your safety in mind . . . should something terrible happen to Mom, the knowledge is imprinted that children will be left in good hands. Their safety and survival will be guarded by such a man.

So that’s why when it comes to images and book covers, it’s so darned appealing to see an infant in a strong man’s arms. It speaks to a visceral need for a guarantee of survival.
How often in a Blaze do you see a hero take care of a heroine? Could be her safety…could be an injury…could be her finances…could be her sexual needs (we are writing Blazes, after all). These scenes help cement the idea that this couple will make it for the long haul.

In my first Blaze POSSESSING MORGAN, one of my hero’s biggest problems is that the heroine won’t let him take care of her. She’s always taken care of herself and she refuses to be charmed and/or cosseted. iI managed to find a way for him to take care of her, but it was tough

I’m curious about what scenes in Blazes indicate to you that this couple will move on to their happily ever after?

Air travel has changed a lot and my recent trip to NYC and Toronto proved it. I had a lot of obstacles to getting where I wanted to be, which was home.

At the airport, I was told that since I hadn’t paid for seat selection, (huh?) I may not get on my over-sold flight. (Nowhere in all the information was this explained.) But after stressing for 90 minutes, I got on and had a great seat!

When we landed high winds buffeted the plane. Which meant that the seaplane I’d booked wasn’t likely to take off. Indeed, I called and found flights had been cancelled.

Determined to get home that night, I rushed through the airport and booked the next hotel shuttle to downtown, was told I had five minutes to get my luggage and be outside for the next one. It happened! The shuttle driver ran behind by a few minutes, so I jumped on just before he pulled away.

Downtown, I dashed across the street to wait for a city bus to the ferry terminal. (I still had water to cross!) The very first bus that showed up was the Express! Yay! Had I considered that I’d need coin for this bus? Of course not…I’d booked a seaplane flight, no need for exact change, right? Right.

I asked the driver if he’d please just take a bill. No! I sagged, defeated and knew I’d miss my ferry connection. But wait! He said to jump aboard because there were lots of people who would give me change for my bill…he waved to indicate the nearly full bus.

So, I hauled my luggage train, (yes, a train, they hook together now!) laptop and oversized purse up onto the bus. By the time I’d arranged all my gear, there were hands outstretched under my face offering me coins, coins and more coins! Flabbergasted, I gathered them all, gushing my thanks and dropped the exact change into the fare box. When I finally looked up to see my benefactors, they’d all taken their seats and I didn’t have a clue who’d helped me. Again, I gave them my thanks and settled into a seat…made my ferry (which pitched and rolled all the way home) and figured that maybe, just maybe, all those times I’d dropped coins into expired parking meters for strangers had come back to me.

What does this have to do with my first Blaze sale? It parallels my journey to Blaze.

I got my first rejection from Harlequin 23 years ago now. (It actually read: don’t call, we won’t discuss it) After some hard work and much time and many many more words written, I began to get personalized rejections. You know the kind, the ones that give the impression that you’re close, AKA good rejections.

I so badly wanted to write for Temptation! Meantime, I’m racking up more “close this time, but sorry” letters. Eventually, I get one that reads, “Bonnie, the sex is great but there’s just so much of it.” (Buffeted plane…seaplane cancelled.)

But buried in my rejections is a clue! (Round about now, you’re seeing the parallel with me catching that shuttle bus, yes?) And wouldn’t you know, there’s a short 4 book promotion launched called Temptation Blaze…hotter than your regular Temptations. (This is me at the bus stop…without the correct change.)

Ah, yes, but the winds of change were blowing and I stepped up, took a chance that someone would lend a hand. And voila! The market heated up to boiling and the sub-genre of erotic romance appeared. I threw myself onto the bus and rode!

Once I was on the bus…I made it to the ferry terminal…jumped on the boat and sailed home…just where I wanted to be.

And here I am, waiting for my first Blaze release, Possessing Morgan (if all things go smoothly from here on out), which should be out in March, 2010.

It’s been a long trip to get here, and I had many obstacles in the path, but that just makes being here that much sweeter.