All Kinds of Beautiful
I have an earworm. Dan Wilson’s All Kinds. The earworm line, of course is “All kinds of beautiful.” The song says you’ve got the kind of beautiful that makes the boys want to give up running all around. This is the stuff of romance books. Every heroine has something within her that appeals to the hero in such a way that all other women pale in comparison. She doesn’t have to be beautiful to everyone. She only has to be beautiful to that one man… or more if it’s a menage.
Admittedly, I have a thing about heroines that are different. I don’t mind the fat chick heroine as long as she’s not a whiner. I don’t mind the heroine who’s a were-mongoose. I don’t mind the one whose master cheated on her and who tries to find a replacement for him in personals ads. I like the geeky ones, the underdogs, the ones who are plain janes, or are so beautiful and so powerful men are turned off and never take the time to see how vulnerable she is underneath. I just don’t like heroines who are wishy washy, whiny, and too stupid to live. Every heroine has to have redeeming qualities or I can’t buy into it.
Last night I decided to read for an hour before I went to bed. I picked up my Nook and I opened Breaking Chance by Kim Knox. I bought this book because I liked the sci-fi premise. I liked the idea of a heroine who was tough and smart… and a criminal. I liked the idea of a hero who was a mass murderer. I’m not gonna give away the story, but fuck me if I didn’t just become enthralled in this world. Not so much because of the world building, although that was done well, but because of the characters. The layers to these two are incredible. If you want an excerpt, here’s a link to Kim’s site where you’ll find one. Trust me, this book is in no way a disappointment to a reader.
Half of the reason I bought this book is because of the edgy almost sci-fi feel I have with one of my WIPs. I like getting into a particular headspace by reading other stuff. Reading Breaking Chance turned out to be not quite the exercise I thought it would be. Instead of being immersed in a gritty world, I was immersed in emotion.
When big, bad heroes who are almost anti-heroes, fall for women who are strong, I get goosebumps. When they uncover vulnerabilities and neurosis that these women live with but have risen above, I get chills. When they love them not just in spite of those weaknesses but because of them… I melt. It is then all about all kinds of beautiful because physical beauty can be outshone in a heartbeat by psychological and emotional beauty. And those moments when the badass hero realizes that and realizes that he’s completely captivated… those are the best moments in a book.
Sometimes the road to being a good writer means you have to be a reader. It may be geeky of me, but I just love a good book.
Oh! And congrats to Obnoxio the Clown who won the February Commenter prize!
