Monday, July 23, 2012

Naughty Little Words

Sometimes inspiration for a story comes from something you see or hear…all it takes are a few naughty little words… ;-)

In the case of Naughty Little Secrets, the story developed when a friend of mine told me about how she is tired of reading romances where the guys are all billionaires or millionaires. She said those stories are nothing more than imitation Cinderellas.

We agreed there need to be more blue collar heroes. So she told me about this guy she saw a few years ago, when her car broke down and she had to call a tow truck. The guy took her to this garage he recommended since she was clueless where to take her car.

Anyway, turns out that the owner of the repair shop and the tow truck guy were related, I think she said they were cousins. The tow truck guy wasn’t bad looking, but he wasn’t great looking either, but more importantly, my friend isn’t into married men and this guy wore a band.

But the guy who owned the repair shop was hot she told me, and not wearing a ring…and she spent the next three hours fantasizing about this guy and trying to find out—subtly—if he was married or single. lol. I can just picture her there trying to ask all these guys, elbows deep in car parts and grease, if the dude she wanted was available. :P lol.

And she said, “I only wanted to know if he was fuckable.” Of course, I cracked up at this point. Oh yeah, I picture it too well.

But her encounter planted a seed in my head, and I started outlining a story with a handsome car repair guy as hero.

What do you think? Do you prefer more authentic and real down to earth guys with blue collar occupations, or maybe you like to mix it up and read both white and blue collar heroes?

Until Next time~
Cass

4 comments:

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

While most of my characters, I admit, are extraordinary (at something), every plot has to be believable enough for the reader to feel in the setting. So average Joes in extraordinary situations are just as riveting.

The trick is making either the character/action/plot/setting robust enough to keep your reader doing what they are supposed to do...er...read.

- Mac

Cassandra said...

Very true, Mac. I think most readers can related to the common man more than some billionaire type. In romance, the main reason we women read the genre (at least to my way of thinking) is not only for pure escapism, but to also be swept off our feet by our ideal romantic partner. But since he's not real and we also strive for some realism, we give the guy faults to overcome, which enriches the story and furthers the plot by way of conflict.

In RL I don't like conflict. But in a story, it's mandatory. :D

Heading off to check out your books. :-)

Mary Kirkland said...

I like both types of reads. *I loved this book :)* but sometimes I want the realistic down to earth type of hero and sometimes I want something more supernatural. So I'm not fussy, I can read both.

Cassandra said...

Hey Mary! Yep, I'm that way too. I think for me, it depends on the premise. If the story idea hits me the right way, I don't care if the hero is a green skinned alien shape-shifting dust bunneh who owns a billion dollar tech company. lol

The thing I have to agree with my friend about is the vast majority of the billionaire (inflation 'cause money ain't what it used to be, lol) heroes are kind of blah and the plots are cookie cutter stamped and rather wimpy.