{"id":2207,"date":"2009-09-16T02:00:50","date_gmt":"2009-09-16T09:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/?p=2207"},"modified":"2009-09-12T10:04:53","modified_gmt":"2009-09-12T17:04:53","slug":"welcome-guest-blogger-annette-mccleave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/welcome-guest-blogger-annette-mccleave\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Guest Blogger Annette McCleave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Male Bonding in Romance\"mccleave_pic\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

First off, thanks so much for having me as a guest on Muse Interrupted, Cindy. It\u2019s such a thrill to be celebrating my debut novel and sharing my excitement with the blogworld.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite parts of romance novels are those little glimpses you sometimes get of the hero is spending some one-on-one time with other guys. Most of the time, I\u2019m like everyone else, desperate to read the next part when the hero and heroine are engaged in clever repartee\u2014I\u2019ve been known to skip over secondary romances in a book just to get back to the main couple. But those moments the hero spends with other men are ones I rarely skip.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s because I feel like I\u2019m getting the insider view\u2014a brief peek at what really makes the men in the story tick. The hero is usually relaxed in these scenes, just being himself and not trying to win the day. Although I love my heroes to be larger than life, I like to see them handling the smaller slices of life, too.<\/p>\n

\"mccleave_drawn\"There\u2019s usually some humor in those scenes, too, and I enjoy a few lighter moments\u2014especially if the overall story is dark. An example? Okay, I\u2019m going to steal from TV and not a book, just because I know it\u2019ll resonate with most of you: Scenes involving Angel and Spike in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/em>. The push and pull between those two very determined male vampires is both fun and funny to watch, even when there are lives at stake. (Sorry, couldn\u2019t resist the pun).<\/p>\n

When it comes to my own writing, I find myself including some of that same interaction, in part to round out my characters, and in part for the sheer pleasure of it.<\/p>\n

Here are a few moments between my hero, Lachlan MacGregor, and his friend Brian:<\/p>\n

Lachlan wiped his practice sword with an oiled cloth and leaned it up against the stone fireplace. \u201cThis would be much easier had you begun training when you were a lad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, I was too busy skateboarding and blowing my eardrums out with Pearl Jam, so that wasn\u2019t an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour combat skills need a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian deposited his sword and shield on the floor. Looking more like a walking sportswear advertisement than an immortal warrior, he used his arm to wipe the faint sheen off his brow and gave Lachlan a rueful smile. \u201cAll those years of corporate backstabbing and deep-sixing the competition don\u2019t count, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m young and I\u2019m agile. You told me that when we started. And last week, you said I\u2019d come a long way in five weeks. So why the long face?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you know just enough to get yourself killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d the former stockbroker protested, \u201cI thought you said I had good instincts?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need more than good instincts. You need skill.\u201d Lachlan rubbed his shirt front to halt the trickles running down his chest. \u201cAnd you need more bloody endurance. You should be training every spare minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo way. Unlike you, MacGregor, I have a life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRead the cards, Webster. Things have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, yeah, I know. A year ago, the chances of being ambushed were one in fifty and now it\u2019s more like fifty-fifty. But I\u2019m already doing my bit. I work out with you three times a week. That\u2019s more than most Gatherers can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThree hours a week is not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not? I\u2019m learning from the best.\u201d Brian smiled. \u201cWord on the Gatherer grapevine is that you once single-handedly took down a pair of martial demons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t believe everything you hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, come on. You were ambushed by elite soldier henchies from the inner rings of hell and lived to tell the tale. I know it\u2019s true, admit it. With you as my coach, there\u2019s no question I\u2019ll eventually own some demon ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaking his head at the young man\u2019s bravado, Lachlan strode into the kitchen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m offering up a copy of DRAWN INTO DARKNESS <\/strong>to one lucky person today\u2014all you need to do is comment. Do you have a favorite book or series that in your opinion does \u2018the guy thing\u2019 really well? Tell me about it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0P.S. This is also a stop on my \u201cCross into Darkness\u201d blog tour, so feel free to visit my website at www.annettemccleave.com<\/a> for a chance to win the tour grand prize. If you\u2019ve been following the tour from the beginning, here\u2019s the clue….<\/p>\n

Muse Interrupted clue<\/strong>: First word of the two-word answer is the Scottish term for valley.<\/p>\n

Thanks for joining me today\u2014I\u2019ve really enjoyed my visit. Good luck in the draw!<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

To read the back cover copy of DRAWN INTO DARKNESS<\/strong> and Annette’s bio, please visit yesterday’s post. To learn more about Annette, please visit her website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Male Bonding in Romance First off, thanks so much for having me as a guest on Muse Interrupted, Cindy. It\u2019s such a thrill to be celebrating my debut novel and sharing my excitement with the blogworld. One of my favorite parts of romance novels are those little glimpses you sometimes get of the hero is… Continue reading Welcome Guest Blogger Annette McCleave<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,39,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-authors","category-give-aways","category-guest-bloggers","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2207"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2217,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}