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Anne Hope | The Power of the Dark Side
June 5, 2012
I'd like to thank everyone at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to guest blog today.
I'm thrilled to be here and look forward to chatting with you. How many of you have at one point or another found yourselves rooting for the
bad guy, secretly waiting for that uplifting moment of redemption? How many of
you have been enthralled by a dark, misguided villain or bad boy hero, hoping
the love of a good woman will inspire him to change his evil ways? This happens to me all the time. If there is even a hint of goodness in a
character, I can't help but root for him, and my greatest wish is to see him
redeemed. The best example is The Phantom of Opera. Raoul bored me to
tears, whereas the phantom captivated me and had me waiting with bated breath
for that heartrending moment when Christine's kiss pulls him back from the edge
of darkness. Don't get me wrong. If I ever met one of these guys in the flesh I'd probably
run for the hills. They're way too intense! But in fiction, they are undeniably
sexy. Maybe it has something to do with the power the heroines have over
them—the power to make them see the light, to help them discover the
goodness within them, and to ultimately give them the strength to change. The battle between good and evil, darkness and light, never fails to captivate
me. So it should come as no surprise that my new paranormal series, Dark Souls,
revolves around this very battle. Jace, the hero of SOUL
BOUND, is your typical bad boy. No stranger to pain and rejection, he's
lived most of his life as an outcast. But deep down he longs to be one of the
good guys, even though he refuses to admit it. Lia sees these heroic qualities
within him, forcing him to acknowledge them and eventually embrace them. I believe change is the cornerstone of all good love stories. Love has to make
the characters better somehow, stronger and more heroic. It must encourage them
to delve deep and discover qualities within them they never knew existed. But
above all, it must redeem them and—like Christine's kiss—pull them
back from the edge of darkness. Don't miss Anne's Beach
contest at Fresh Fiction Ends on Monday!
Comments
8 comments posted.
Re: Anne Hope | The Power of the Dark Side
I am afraid I would have to say there is a limit to how bad a hero I would pull for.
(Gladys Paradowski 12:47pm June 5, 2012)
The anti-hero doesn't do it for me. But a young man (the older one is too set in his ways) can easily fall into bad behaviour through boredom and the wrong friends, and something can happen to change his life all right. I would not be so sure that a girl could do this. Maybe, but aren't men going to be doing the macho posing bit in front of other men? Author and former soldier Andy McNab has told of how he was a teenaged young offender and he got told he could go to Army cadet training or go to jail. He chose the army and it changed his life immeasurably. He also became an asset to society. However he did not improve his romantic life greatly as he was still inclined to make rash decisions without consulting his wife; while being sent abroad for six months at a time, leaving his wife in a small barracks town with three shops, meant that he came home one time and his wife had left. Some women would say that he was a hero, others would say, not for me thanks.
(Clare O'Beara 6:18am June 5, 2012)
I have always felt that way about The Phantom of the Opera. When I saw it live I was crying at the end feeling bad for the Phantom! Best of luck with your new book!
(Renee Pajda 8:09am June 5, 2012)
I like bad boy heroes, can't seem to help myself and like you I found Raoul in Phantom of the Opera to be quite boring and other than the fact that the "Phantom" was too intense and a little on the homicidal front- I would have rooted for Christine to pick the "Phantom" for a change of pace. Good post.
(Maria Durst 3:03pm June 5, 2012)
I'm an anti-hero type too. Han Solo is kind of one.
(Lisa Elwood 3:43pm June 5, 2012)
I loved Han Solo. He's the perfect example of a bad-boy hero
who can be redeemed--a little rough around the edges but with
a strong, heroic core.
(Anne Hope 4:14pm June 5, 2012)
There have been times where I, too, have rooted for the bad guy, for I feel that deep down inside everyone, there lies that good person who is screaming to get out. The secret lies in how to reach inside and reach that person, so that he can emerge. I've heard it said that a lot of women gravitate to what is called the "puppy dog" person, who is someone who is wounded, so to speak, in some way, and needs someone to help make them a better, and whole person. I suppose that is part of our reason for being here on this Earth. Your book sounds hauntingly good, and I can't wait to read it.
(Peggy Roberson 10:13pm June 5, 2012)
Change is a redeeming quality I'm always looking for in characters I meet on the pages and in daily living. I like being surprised by how deep one reaches inside to understand and knnow the truth, since it finds a way out usually.
(Alyson Widen 4:12pm June 10, 2012)
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