Julia London on flawed romance novel heroines
Julia London, author of Return to Homecoming Ranch (out today!), joins HEA to explore the intricacies of flawed heroines.
Julia: There is an old maxim I've seen attributed to Plato that says, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." It's a nice reminder that everyone has baggage, that everyone comes at life with a set of experiences and behaviors that flaw our perfect self and make us who we are. Sometimes our behaviors don't make a lot of sense, or, when viewed through the perfect-techno-vision lens of our hindsight glasses, we can see where we might have handled a situation better.
Early in my career, I wrote about heroines who'd had big life experiences, but they tended to be women who were spunky and clever in the face of adversity. Their reactionary behavior was perfectly understandable given what was going on in their lives. Characters like this make great romance novel heroines because we all want to imagine we are that girl. When bad stuff happens to us, we want to believe we react and behave in a way that is cute and clever and worthy of a starring role in a blockbuster romantic movie. That heroine is who we want to be. She is who we relate to. But she doesn't always make for the most interesting reading.
In the last couple of years I've been exploring real flaws in heroines and creating characters that are more like the real us: They make mistakes that are not cute and react in ways that defy logic. For example, in my most recent historical series (the Cabot Sisters), starting with The Trouble With Honor, I have written about four women who are faced with an uncertain future and take matters into their own hands. But with limited resources and education, they make some stupid decisions and then have to deal with the fairly harsh consequences. Serves them right.
Perhaps my most-flawed heroines have been realized in my Pine River contemporary romance series from Montlake Romance. It's about three sisters who never knew each other until their deadbeat dad dies and leaves them a dilapidated ranch. In the first book, Homecoming Ranch, I wrote about a heroine who never knew her real father, but was subjected to several potential fathers courtesy of a mother who had less-than-stellar values. Madeline's experience of having no control over her childhood caused her to have some real control issues as an adult — some that hemmed her in so completely that she couldn't navigate her way free of control when it really mattered. I think a lot of us can relate to that. When so many people and things are demanding our attention, sometimes we hang on to the slimmest bit of control in a given situation long past the point it is either helpful or healthy.
In Return to Homecoming Ranch (on sale today!), Libby's childhood was spent bouncing between parents. As an adult, she has tried very hard to fit in, volunteering to be part of any group where she is needed. More than anything, Libby wants desperately to be needed by somebody, somewhere. She thought she'd finally achieved that in a handsome boyfriend with two small children who adored her. But when she discovers it was all a lie, that her home was as temporary as her other homes, Libby loses her cool in spectacular fashion. Not only is she placed under a restraining order, she is checked into a "facility" to "rest" for a week or so.
Libby reacts badly and does something stupid. And the consequences are not easy for her — she is ostracized and viewed with suspicion. She is nowhere near a perfect romance novel heroine.
Libby, like her sisters, is fighting a hard battle and while she deserves our compassion, her battle makes for a great read. Who among us doesn't like a little gossip like the type Libby is sure to generate in Pine River? And yet, in the end, the most interesting part about Libby is not her meltdown, or the mistakes she continues to make after that, but how she figures some things out about herself and what she's doing, and crawls out of the hole she's dug for herself. The reward? When she thinks she has ruined everything, she discovers that maybe she is very much needed after all.
I hope you enjoy Return to Homecoming Ranch.
Find out more about Julia and her books at julialondon.com.