I’ve been meaning to follow up on a blog I wrote in May of 09 about Bad Boys. In researching for that blog, I found this article How To Be A Bad Boy By Matthew Fitzgerald- Relationship Correspondent.
When I first read it, I thought it must have been written as tongue in cheek. SURELY this guy wasn’t for real. I mean, come on. I couldn’t believe some of his advice to men. “Act as if you couldn’t possibly care less about getting women.” And “Be indifferent and don’t show you care.” And how about this bit of wisdom: “Get her off the pedestal. Run the relationship by your rules, not hers.” And here’s my personal favorite, “For women, guys who are too available are boring. Bad Boys are selfishly independent. Women always want what they can’t have, so make yourself busy and scarce. –Let her do some work to get you.”
Okay, this guy is just BEGGING to be made into a Blaze hero. I can just picture his backstory: BURNED by a woman in his past, he has become the consummate “player”. The serial dater who never lets his heart get involved and thinks relationships with women are all about playing a game. But in my Blaze story, this “player” would finally get what was coming to him. That is a woman who loves him with all her heart and won’t put up with his game-playing. My Blaze Bad Boy would finally come to realize not all women “want what they can’t have” and are ready for a real, grown-up relationship where there is mutual respect and a love so deep and true he would be a fool to let it slip through his callused, bad-boy hands.
Actually, I’m writing a book just like that right now. It’s the third in my Vegas fighter pilot series and features Captain Mitch McCabe, Bad Boy extraordinaire. McCabe is the ultimate player. But he wasn’t always. In his early twenties he wanted nothing more than to fall in love, settle down, and have the kind of happy home life he never had as a child growing up on the bad side of Memphis.
Hmm, makes me wonder about this “relationship correspondent”, Matthew. Did he have his heart broken by a woman in his past? (U) Has he actually used his own advice? If he has, how often did it work for him? And if it worked, did it make him happy? Is he in a successful relationship now?
I guess a lot of writers wonder about other people’s lives; their past experiences and motives, their loves and losses. And then we start playing “what if…” I would love to talk to this Matthew Fitzgerald. To be fair, if you read the entire article, he does have a few bits of advice with which I agree. He just might be tamable. Hmm, a romance novelist who sets out to teach a Bad Boy “relationship correspondent” a lesson in what a woman really wants. Oh, the story I could write…

What about you? Are you curious about other people’s lives?

There’s a Country song by Tim McGraw with the lyrics, “I’ll show you how a real bad boy can be a real good man.” I love that song. And I love Bad Boys. Maybe not so much in real life (although there are exceptions) but most women definitely love a Bad Boy hero in a Romance novel.
In a Historical Romance he’s The Rake, The Scoundrel or the Gunslinger. In a contemporary, he’s usually the Biker or the Player-the Serial Dater. But he can also be the CEO, the Sheik, the Cowboy, or the Navy Seal. Any man can be a Bad Boy. I’m a fan of the archetypes book, HEROES AND HEROINES by Tami Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders. In their book they list a Bad Boy’s traits as: “Charismatic, Street Smart, and Intuitive.” They say he can be “The boy from the wrong side of the tracks.” or “The Rebel.” Tami Cowden, et al lists such examples as Johnny Castle from DIRTY DANCING and Jack Mayo from AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN.
Johnny and Jack are perfect examples, and if you have the chance I recommend this book for more insight into The Bad Boy.
My Critique partners and I were discussing Bad Boys from our own works in progress at our annual retreat one year and came up with a list of traits we would add:

1. He has a temper
2. He’s cynical, an outsider, doesn’t like rules
3. He’s not a big talker.
4. He’s aloof, acts as if he couldn’t care less
5. He never explains himself
6. He’s unpredictable, exudes an air of danger
7. He’s a passionate lover
8. He never admits he’s wrong
9. He’ll take the blame whether it’s his fault or not
10. He never runs from a fight and doesn’t mind picking a fight if he’s in a temper
11. His word is his bond
12. He never lets anyone see the goodness inside him, or his fears, or any feelings for that matter
13. He doesn’t believe in love
14. He’s possessive, won’t share his woman
15. He’s capable of pouring all his passion and love into a lifetime devotion to the woman who can love him and make him want to be a better man.

And that last trait is the fantasy. The end game. The reason we read Romance. We might all have a Bad Boy in our past somewhere. Maybe it worked out, maybe it didn’t. But in a Romance, the heroine always gets her man.

They say a reformed rake makes the best husband. And in a Romance the Bad Boy can be a real good man to love. So, any Bad Boy heroes you can’t forget? Any Bad Boy tales you care to share? Any true life stories of reforming a Rake?