Please welcome Auralee Wallace to The Qwillery as part of the 2014 Debut Author Challenge Guest Blogs. Sidekick was published on June 1st by Escape Publishing.
I Think my Two-Year Old is an Alpha Hero
My debut novel, Sidekick, is a bit of an odd duck. Whenever someone asks me the genre, I usually stumble around a bit before describing it as a comedic Superhero Romance. One of the problems I had in creating this genre mash-up was trying to come up with an appropriate romantic counterpart to my fledging crime-fighter. I did think about crafting an alpha hero because women really seem to dig alpha heroes, but I found I just couldn’t do it. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why, and then it hit me. My two-year old is an alpha hero. And here’s the proof:
- He throws spectacular temper tantrums. Harlequin (my beneficent publisher) defines an alpha hero as, “A hero in a position of power and used to getting his own way.” The implication here, of course, is that our hero will get a bit testy if his power is questioned. This sounds exactly like my little boy! He’s adorable and I love him to bits, but let’s face it, toddlers are very unreasonable. Getting him dressed in the morning can take up to half an hour. Oftentimes if I choose the wrong socks, pants, or hold firm to my stance that he cannot wear his pyjamas to the park, well, there is hell is pay.
- He growls a lot. Have you ever noticed how much alpha heroes growl, bark, snarl, and roar in romance novels? Well, when my son was born one of his vocal cords was paralyzed, so he couldn’t cry loudly. Instead, he made a sound that my husband thought resembled that of a baby dragon (not that we’ve ever had the privilege of hearing one.) Even though, his full vocal prowess has returned, my little boy never did give up his growling. If one of his sisters reaches for a tasty morsel on his plate, he growls. If I move to put sunscreen on him, he growls. Bedtime? Lots of growling. I would say his various growls make up at least half of his vocabulary.
- He’s jealous. There are times my boy shows absolutely no interest in me. He has broken my heart many a time by rebuking my entreaties for hugs. But I tell ya, if one of his siblings or my husband so much as makes a move to show me any kind of physical affection, he’s there. In fact, he has been known to pull hair, bite, and pinch to force his way in between me and a would-be hugger. Alpha hero behavior, no doubt.
- He’s cocky...and the women love it. Yup, just like all those bare-chested men on the covers of so many novels, my little boy just inherently knows women love the look of him. He gives them the smile in restaurants, he struts for them in the aisles of grocery stores, and if they’re really lucky, he might even give them a chubby fisted bye-bye when we leave the building – that gets them every time.
- Finally, he is a good boy underneath it all. I’ve been told that part of the appeal of the alpha hero is that underneath the gruff exterior a good person awaits. I don’t think I need to explain how this is just like my two-year old. This is true of every two-year old, regardless of gender, ever.
Sidekick
Escape Publishing, June 1, 2014
eBook, 249 pages
Escape Publishing, June 1, 2014
eBook, 249 pages
Heroes meets Bridget Jones in this brilliant, hilarious debut novel about a girl who just wants to save the world...
Bremy St James, daughter of billionaire Atticus St James, has been cut off from the family fortune and is struggling to survive in a world that no longer holds its breath every time she buys a new outfit. To make matters worse, her twin sister is keeping secrets, loan sharks are circling, and the man of her dreams — a newspaper reporter — is on assignment to bring down everyone with the last name St James.
Things are certainly looking bleak for the down-and-out socialite until a good deed throws her into the path of the city’s top crime-fighter, Dark Ryder. Suddenly, Bremy has a new goal: apprentice to a superhero, and start her own crime-fighting career.
Ryder has no need for a sidekick, but it turns out the city needs Bremy’s help. Atticus St James is planning the crime of the century, and Bremy may be the only one able to get close enough to her father to stop him.
Now all she needs to do is figure out this superhero thing in less than a month, keep her identity secret from the man who could very well be The One, and save the city from total annihilation.
Well, no one ever said being a superhero would be easy...
About Auralee
(from the author's blog)
Auralee Wallace is an author of humorous commercial women’s fiction and occasional guest blogger at Penny Dreadful Books and Reviews http://pennydreadfulbooks.me/. She is a member of the RWA, and her debut novel, Sidekick, a superhero urban fantasy, placed as a finalist in the Virginia Fool for Love Contest, The TARA Contest and The Catherine. Sidekick has been picked up by Harlequin’s Escape Publishing and is due for release June 1st, 2014. Auralee has a Master’s degree in English literature and worked in the publishing industry for a number of years before teaching at the college level. Her latest project, Camp Murder, a cozy mystery with an edge, combines the traditional elements of a good whodunit with a little romance, a little danger, and a lot of fun. When this semi-natural blonde mother of three children and three rescue cats isn’t writing or playing soccer, she can be found watching soap operas with lurid fascination and warring with a family of peregrine falcons for the rights to her backyard.
Blog ~ Twitter @AuraleeWallace ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook
(from the author's blog)
Blog ~ Twitter @AuraleeWallace ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook
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