Dangerous Alpha Heroes #BlogHop - Who's Your Favorite Alpha?

What is it about powerful, dangerous male protagonists that make women go weak in their knees, their hearts to beat more forcefully, their breathing to accelerate? We see a damaged male with the power to destroy a city block, and we instantly swoon.

Traceon, one of my characters from my AKM series, is one such alpha male. In fact, he damn near stole the show from one of my other dangerous alphas, Micah, in Rise of the Fallen (book one of the series). And let me tell you, stealing the show from Micah is no small feat. Micah relishes in the spotlight and doesn't give it up easily.

Trace is the most dangerous and tormented of all my characters, and he's the one I get the most "fan mail" about: "When will you write Trace's book?" "I want more Trace." "Trace, Trace, Trace!" "I love Trace." "He's MINE!" He has built a loyal and rabid fan following of women who fight to be his, and his book is still 3 away from being published. Everyone wants to know what happens to him and who he will be paired up with, especially since it appears he has a connection with Micah, as well as with Micah's mate, Samantha.

The pitfall of charismatically dangerous alphas like Trace is that there is oftentimes a ton of pressure to make their stories perfect in the eyes of everyone, which is impossible. Just as with Vishous of the BDB and Acheron of the Dark Hunters, I'm sure Trace's book will receive its fair share of criticism. Inevitably, some fans will feel let down that he went this way instead of that way, but just as many will have felt let down had I taken him that way instead of this. All I can do as the author is stay true to my characters and give Trace the story he is demanding in my head. If I deviate from what he tells me he wants, he'll make me pay for it, but if I stay true to him, he will reward me in spades. Regardless, I will never shy away from writing about dangerous alpha heroes. I love them, readers love them, and they make for good stories.

My favorite alpha male is Micah from my own series. He has become a huge part of me and sizzles every time I write him into a scene. He's no holds barred and balls to the wall, and that's what I love about him. Before Micah, Vishous was my favorite (and do I really need to say where Vishous comes from? LOL). Now it's your turn to tell me: Who's your favorite alpha male?

Happy reading

PRIZES
I am giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner, as well as a free copy of one of my three AKM novels (your choice): Rise of the Fallen, Heart of the Warrior, or Micah's Calling. Make sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win. If I am unable to reach the winner within 24 hours, I will draw a new winner.

Make sure to visit the other bloggers participating in this blog hop for more opportunities to win.


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Rules of Writing - Part III - My Own Contribution to the List

Look at those pictures. Do those look like a nice, friendly altercations or angry ones? Pretty angry, right? Now, is this the kind of reaction you want to provoke in your fans and readers? Probably not.

My contribution to the list of rules I've posted over the past week would be: Unless you are Stephen King or any number of other highly successful authors who have earned the right to do pretty much whatever they want without repercussions to book sales, don't use your author persona to post your political agenda or publicly display where you stand on certain heated, societal issues. And definitely do NOT start a campaign against any one person or group of people who piss you off, don't agree with your political/social agenda, or write a bad review of one of your books. Doing so is akin to starting a protest, and from countless pictures we've seen of protests, not very many end happily or peacefully. Of course, if you're not serious about your writing, or if you have such a massive and loyal following you don't have to worry about losing fans, protest away.

Here's a true story: A few months ago, I became so disillusioned with one author's political and social agendas, as well as her posts against those who she felt "had it coming," that I had to unfriend her. Sad, but true. She is an exceptionally knowledgeable writer, and someone I had truly liked for quite some time, but I just couldn't take it anymore and found myself becoming angrier with every post she made, which is not something I want to feel when I'm trying to be productive. Her posts had progressively become more belligerent and argumentative in groups I was in with her to the point I had to leave the groups, and when she went on a crusade to out another writer/person who had a history of making stupid and inexcusable comments, I said "enough" and clicked unfriend. I wish her luck, but I can't be part of her success story anymore. But her actions did make me realize the importance of this rule, because I saw how her behavior made me and a few other people react to her by distancing ourselves from her. As a result, I never want to instigate such a reaction from my fans (and I will honestly admit that I could see I had the potential to do that), and I'm sharing this story with you so you don't make the same mistake, either.

Here's the thing: I don't care where my fave authors sit on political issues, and I don't want to see them get into cock fights with another person who, quite frankly, doesn't deserve the attention, whether justified or not. That's not why I follow them or their fan pages. To engage in such politically and socially charged conversations and crusades is counterproductive and can damage your reputation, and you can turn friends into enemies with just one carelessly written post.

You don't see J.R. Ward, Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and other best sellers posting about such heated subjects and making public outcries for the rights of certain segments of society (and even if they do, look at where they are. They've earned a place where they can afford to behave that way. We indie authors aren't quite there, yet). And you don't see those best selling authors arguing with their fans, making passive-aggressive posts against them and becoming the very thing they are speaking out against. That's not how you keep fans or win new ones. It's how you lose them and dissuade others from joining your ride.

If you want to be taken seriously as an author, you need to behave the way a serious author behaves. See that which you wish to become and emulate it. If you want to become a best seller, you need to behave like one. If you want to be the next J.R. Ward or Stephen King, do as they do and emulate the paths they took to get there.

The long and short of this rule is to be very careful what you say and post when in your author persona. I have learned this lesson from experience in the past few months, and it really is an important rule to abide by. One that I wish I had followed a few months back myself, because I've overstepped my boundaries once or twice, as well. Luckily, I'm learning from my mistakes. I hope you do, too, because you'll be much happier.

Happy Writing and Reading! (Operative word: HAPPY)

-D