In the Eye

Man, I finally made it here. On the right day and everything. Sorry about that guys. I hope you'll think the book I just turned it is worth my missing some blog dates.

I got this really interesting letter from a reader. She asked me about "plain Jane" heroes. I thought about that for awhile, about whether any of my heroes were or ordinary looking whether they all looked like models in my head. The first one who popped to mind was Nate from Bad Company. Nate wears glasses, he worries about love handles. Then I realized that aside from Joey and Aaron in Collision Course, who admittedly get hit on by random "others" with some frequency, maybe none of my heroes are dazzling to the eyes—except to the eyes of the man who falls for them.

As children, most of us think our parents are beautiful. Even after we're exposed to the media and taught what is considered beautiful, most little kids think their mom is the prettiest. If you asked me what I'd change about my wife's appearance, I can tell you "Nothing." Because when I look at her eyes, my stomach flips over. Damn, and I thought the girl of my dreams would have blue eyes, not brown. Still. There she is.

I'm pretty sure it's the same for my characters. The reason why Quinn is so attracted to Eli? Noah to Cameron? Shane to Kim? For no other reason than the man himself. Something about him clicks. You can show me dozens of pictures of people and I'm sure we could all be able to agree on some standard of attractiveness. But put those people in motion, imbue the still faces with personalities, and everything changes. It's no longer about hair or eyes or the symmetry of the features, but the essence of the person, and what captivates us is as unique as the pattern of freckles on a loved one's nose.

My characters may be able to tell you about the guy's sexy mouth or ass, his broad shoulders or beautiful eyes, but if the object of their desire were so objectively hot, why isn't there a line a mile long of guys longing to date him? Why isn't the guy in the modeling business? Maybe sexiness is just as hard to define as obscenity. We know it when we see it. Or touch it. Smell it. Taste it. Oh man, I think the new book feels a sex scene coming on.