Guest Blogger - Seleste deLaney

Welcome Guest Blogger Seleste deLaney. Her recent release Badlands, a steampunk novel, is out now.

Buy Badlands HERE

Not Your Typical Heroine

There are a lot of things readers seem to expect in romance novels, from the initial spark between the hero and heroine to the happily-ever-after ending. In some things, I have no problem sticking to what works, but I’m definitely more of a happy-for-now girl (and sometimes a happy-enough-for-now girl). And in others…let’s just say I’m not your typical romance author.
One thing people have issue with is sex, particularly who the heroine has sex with. The hero? He can get away with stuff upon occasion, but the heroine is to have sex with the hero. Period. Exclamation point. Some other punctuation I can’t think of here that drives it home that this is the way it’s done.

Yeah. I’m so not that girl. I, quite simply, don’t buy that there’s only one way, especially with regard to sex.

I try really hard when writing to make my characters three-dimensional. Love them or hate them, I want my characters to feel real to the reader. The problem with that is real people don’t perfectly align with what is expected of a hero or heroine—especially not a romance hero or heroine. Let’s face it, we’re okay with them being flawed, but not if it affects the romance angle. And all too often sex is equated with romance.

Excuse me while I laugh a little bit.

I don’t know about you, but looking at my life, a lot of sex in it has had little to nothing to do with romance. Love more often than not, but romance?

Don’t get me wrong, there are certain types of heroines (and heroes) who sex=romance works for, but not all of them. Let’s take Ever (the heroine of my new steampunk/alt-history romance Badlands) for example. At the beginning of the story, she’s pretty close to being a man-hater. She respects them only for their strength. As for love and romance? She thinks it’s a waste of time (and that’s the nicest thing she thinks about it). Sex for her is all about the physical.
Of course, it is a romance, so through the course of the story, she’s forced to grow and reexamine many of her beliefs. She has to change. But when you throw a character like her in a romance novel, she isn’t going to behave like a picture perfect heroine prior to that growth. And, tell the truth, would you really want her to?

Here’s a little taste of Ever and Badlands:

The tent flap swished open and Ever shielded her eyes from the glare. Her second-in-command eased inside. “We’re behind schedule, Catherine. Where have you been?”

Stripping out of the simple tunic and pants the border guards wore in the desert, the curvy brunette shrugged. “Jaye announced her engagement. It was all I could do to get the other women back to their tents to change.” She raised a brow as she looked at Ever. “I’m surprised she gave the news without you there.”

“Jaye knows I do not approve.” “Of men or marriage?” Ever’s fingers deftly slid buttons through the decorative loops on her jacket. “I have never discouraged the pursuit of sex. Without some release, we’d all go mad.” She twisted her long hair up and pinned it. “Marriage is another matter entirely. A distraction.”

Catherine’s hand fell on her shoulder. “Queen Lavinia has brought us the closest thing to peace the Badlands has seen since the Union first began sending prisoners into exile. If any of us are to find happiness, now is the time.”

“That you equate men with happiness proves you don’t understand anything.” She shrugged off Catherine’s grip.

“Not all men who live here are criminals.”

With one hand on the flap, Ever paused. “That is only because we do not provide them the opportunity.”

Seleste deLaney writes from a nicely decorated cave in Michigan that houses two wild dogs who are at their calmest when she’s in her own made-up worlds. She can be found all over the internet. Be sure to visit her at her blog, friend her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter. Be careful though, sometimes once you get her talking, she’s a bit of a pain to shut up.