Pages

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Marie Treanor: A Hero With Bite

The vampire Saloman, my hero, is evil. He kills without compunction; he drinks human blood; he wants to rule not just the vampire world, but humans too; and his first step in this takeover bid is to kill my nice but lonely heroine, Elizabeth.

What, you might ask, is heroic about any of that? Doesn’t he have any good points?

Well yes: he’s sexy. And he had charisma. He looks amazing, is awesomely strong and has a larger than life personality that both charms and overwhelms. Being several thousand years old, he’s had a lot of time to perfect his sexual technique. And he has a sense of humour.

What’s not to love?

Well, there’s all the other stuff about evil, blood drinking etc. Any nice heroine, however lonely, should be put off by all of that. And Elizabeth is repelled, to the extent that she plots to kill him - except when she’s with him and the sexy stuff seems more important.

In case you don’t know, I’m talking about my Awakened by Blood trilogy. The first two books, Blood on Silk and Blood Sin are already available, with the final part, Blood Eternal, scheduled for release in October. To explain a bit more, Elizabeth is an academic, researching vampire legends in Romania, when she accidentally awakens Saloman, who was betrayed and staked in the seventeenth century and is now released to extract revenge and assume world domination. To reach his full strength he needs the blood of his Awakener, Elizabeth.

I suppose it’s a bit risky to make a romance hero quite so wicked. But he’s a vampire, not a human with a dietary requirement, and I wanted him to exude that danger that so draws us to vampire stories. Saloman has it in spades, but also has enough appeal, enough mystery to keep Elizabeth guessing as to his true motives. She gets glimpses of his vulnerability and loneliness, odd moments of compassion and genuine emotion, and begins to think there is more to him – as indeed there is.

Not being human, Saloman doesn’t think like one. By his own lights, he isn’t evil. He merely has a plan and believes the end justifies the means. And under Elizabeth’s influence, his plans alter subtly. When it comes down to it, neither seems capable of killing the other. Although their ultimate aims are totally opposed, they become each other’s weakness as well as each other’s strength. The question becomes how will this affect the world?

Well, I’m not going to tell you that here – you’ll have to read the books :) . Instead, I have another question for you. How dangerous do you like your fictional heroes? And why do you suppose we love that danger so much when in real life, we’d run a mile? :) .

I’ll be happy to give away a copy of Blood on Silk or Blood Sin (winner’s choice) to one person who answers the questions or who makes some other comment.

12 comments:

Mary Preston said...

I do like my fictional heroes dangerous. There is no danger from the pages of a book. So do your damnedest.

marypres@gmail.com

Marie Treanor said...

:) Thanks, Marybelle, my thoughts exactly!

Waving to everyone! Lee, thanks for inviting me to blog today!

Marie

desere_steenberg said...

Hi Marie,

Congrats on your release it sounds simply scrumptious !

I like my hero's dangerous because the more danger the more exciting the book!

But in real life I do run as far from danger as possible I guess because in "bookland" no matter the danger there is always a way out and it makes it so exciting to see which way the author chooses but in real life there is no guarantee that you would get out using a "scene" from a book. I hope that I have made sense and I thank you for the chance to win one of your awesome sounding books !

Desere

Jo's Daughter said...

I like the danger in a vampire romance because it's safe to read about the exciting things. Nothing bad is ever going to happen (to me personally) so it's all good & really entertaining.

Margie said...

Danger equals excitment, action, thrills. Bring it on!!!

CrystalGB said...

Dangerous heroes are a key ingredient for an exciting read. Your books sound great. Love the covers.

Marie Treanor said...

Thank you, Desere! And I pretty much agree with you - books are a great, safe outlet for our danger addictions :).

Exactly, Jo's Daughter! Thanks for your comment.

:) Great idea, Margie!

Crystal, thank you! And I must say I do love a dangerous hero in my reading as well as my writing :).

Marie

Becky said...

I like my fictional heroes to be dangerous. The dangerous heroes make the story much more exciting and interesting to read.

kyreadinggirl said...

In real life, I enjoy some danger just as I do in my books. The difference for me is that in real life, I have to see the potential for redemption and be able to have safeguards (friends, family) to "back me up" in case anything goes wrong. I'm the type that takes strange wounded animals to the vet (I have the Humane Society on speed dial), I don't mind walking down dark alleys at night if I absolutely have to (but am getting my concealed carry), you get the idea...in books, the characters seem to walk into situations without protecting themselves. That is the dumb part!

Estella said...

I like my fictional heroes dangerous. Can't get me from the pages of a book.

Michele L. said...

Ooo...ruggedly handsome, sexy, dangerous heroes are my favorites! Something about their physique, muscle power, brains, brawn, just reeks sexy to me! When he is a dangerous fella to deal with, there is more excitement and suspense in store for the reader. Love those kind of stories!

Marie Treanor said...

Thanks for all the comments! I'm getting that we all like heroes with a bit of danger about them, but only in books!

Jlfarkas, that's a good point. In real life if we're going into a potentially dodgy situation, we do take precautions. In books, not so much :).

Great talking to everyone! Lee, thanks to you and your fellow hosts for having me here!

Best Wishes

Marie