My very first experience with romance novels was a bust. I did not “get it”, even though I found the historical setting fascinating. I did not find the hero compelling. Frankly, he scared me.

He was an older man to me. I was about twenty and the hero was about thirty-five, and this was old-school historical romance. All that alpha, domineering, overtly sexual stuff alarmed me. He was too much like my last bad date. I was at a real disadvantage with him.

My tastes changed as I got older. A lot. And while I love the young guys in our Sunday FROS posts, I would never want a relationship with one. Nor do I find romance novels where the hero is older than the heroine, even by ten years or so, alarming and unappealing. I don’t have a stake in those dynamics anymore. Actually, I like romances in which the man is an “older man”, whatever that might mean. I like the interplay of the innocent who thinks she is more worldly than she is, and the man who really is more worldly, and is protective as a result.

We have had a lot of pictures of Hugh Jackman on this blog. I must say that when a picture of him when he was young went up, it startled me. Oh, he was gorgeous, but I must admit that I like Hugh the way he is now, a little lined and more mature. I felt that way about Clint Eastwood. He peaked, visually speaking, in his 40s for me. Actors younger than 30 or 35 appear too smooth and untried, too slick, to me now. An older man’s face has character to it.

Do you appreciate the older man? Do you like them in romance novels? Did your taste on this change as you got older, the way mine did?

Any famous older men whom you particularly appreciate?

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When I was a newlywed, I met another woman who was a newlywed. We became friends. As these things go, the more friendly we became, the more we wanted our husbands to meet, nervous and eager that our husbands get along, that we each like each others husband, that her husband like me and my husband like her…it’s one of the complications of being married. You can really like a woman, but if you hate her husband, you’re not going to be ‘couple friends.’

Anyway, I digress. Sort of.

This woman, let’s call her Mary, spent a lot of time talking about how handsome her husband was. Mary would literally blush, her pupils dilate, her breathing get shaky and her voice giggly when she spoke about Don (not his real name). He was so handsome. She told me how they met, how the attraction for her was instantaneous, but she couldn’t believe that any guy this handsome would ever look at her twice. Just for the record, Mary was an attractive woman. Not gorgeous, not beautiful, but generally nice-looking. Mary spent a lot of time gushing about Don’s Adonis-worthy looks.

After a while, it dawned on me that she was sort of warning me off him. A little shot across my bow not to fall in love with her man. Knowing Mary as I did, this wasn’t about me being a slimy, cheating whore; it was about Don being irresistible and so handsome that women couldn’t help but fall at his feet, helpless. Giggling and dilating.

Can you see where this is going?

We arranged for our husbands to meet, dinner at their apartment. I had told Big D everything, naturally. How Don was supposed to be this total hunk, that Mary was a little nervous about me meeting him and falling for him. Big D thought that was pretty funny.

I have to admit to being curious and very interested to meet this devastatingly handsome man, this man who could fell a room full of women simply by walking into it. Well.

I’m not sure my poker face was at full capacity when I walked into that apartment and met Don, Dream Man. I hope it was, for Mary’s sake.

Don, to my eyes, was a perfectly average looking guy. He had a nice build, but he was too short for my taste. I didn’t like the shape of his nose, his wispy eyebrows, or his tiny teeth. I didn’t like his hair. It can’t be any surprise that Big D looked nothing like Don. My husband is my Dream Man. His particular arrangement of body parts is the arrangement that gets me giggly and dilated.

A Dream Man ideal is not a universal template, one size fits all women.

My template is tall, dark, sinewy, strong eyebrows, great teeth, great feet. (Don had really hairy toes.) I make no claim that my template is universal, but it is consistently mine. During my youth, I pined for Joel McCrea, nearly a dead ringer for Big D. I also sighed heavily over Gary Cooper. Hugh Jackman is my current Dream Man type. You can see the resemblance between these guys, right? Not only physically, but they have a soft-spoken way about them that zings me.  When I met Big D, there he was, Dream Man. My template, in the flesh.

I think our template comes to us. I don’t think we create it. You either find a man handsome or you don’t. You either dilate or you don’t.

In my latest book (buy! buy! buy! —subtle marketing at its best), the heroine is very confused about her template. I think this makes for some very funny situations; not that she’d think so.

What’s your template for a Dream Man? Has it been consistent? Has it evolved? Does it involve Hugh Jackman?

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Okay, Karen Hawkins is doing a FROS world tour, but my eye is closer to home. Everybody’s talking about Wolverine this week. And I’ve seen the movie twice. But as many of you know, and however much I admire Hugh Jackman in all his shirtless glory, I’m a Gambit gal. I love that Cajun master thief and mutant, and today I am generously sharing him with you.

He appeals to the writer in me because a) he’s handsome, b) he has a mysterious and troubled past, c) he has cool powers, d) he’s very good at what he does, and e) he has a cool accent.

Yes, in reality Taylor Kitsch was born in Canada, but this is fantasy!!

Have you seen X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Did you enjoy seeing ole Remy LeBeau? Which summer movie are you most looking forward to?

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You knew this was coming.

You knew this HAD to happen.

That’s right . . . we’re going to AUSTRALIA, home of all things good and beautiful and, especially, HUGH JACKMAN!

Here he is in all of his undigitized, real-life glory, frolicking in the ocean, all wet and salty and — oh, here, just look:

I saw my beloved Hugh (Claudia, don’t even THINK about calling him anything else!) in an interview and he said he wanted to be in ‘ridiculous shape’ for the new movie, WOLVERINE, which is out now. Has anyone seen it yet? Looks to me like he achieved his goal.

Yummmm!

Before we leave, let’s have a moment of silence for Australia’s greatest national treasure . . . Hugh Jackman.

(silence)

Up next? Turkey and then on to Germany! Ah, it’s exhausting, but our search for the perfect FROS must go on!

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Please welcome Miranda Neville! Miranda just released her very first book, Never Resist Temptation, a regency historical with Avon books.

Hello! First let me say how privileged and terrified I feel to be visiting this Pantheon. Call me a major fangirl.

The heroine of my debut novel Never Resist Temptation is a pastry cook. My next is a rare bookseller. Not that I have anything against nicely brought up young ladies who don’t do much of anything—they are found in some of my favorite books. But as a writer I find a girl with a job and some independence gives me more scope for various activities. Especially not having to escape the chaperone.

Finding interesting occupations for women in a historical context can be challenging. In the Regency you are kind of stuck with governess or companion if you’re keeping your heroine within the bounds of proper society. If you want to be improper there are actresses and singers (who I am told don’t sell well) and courtesans. I love the fact that courtesan is now an acceptable occupation for a romance heroine (thank you Diane Gaston, Anna Campbell, Loretta Chase, Claudia Dain and others whom I can’t remember off hand).

I was discussing this with my friend Kathy who loves to collect books on weird aspects of women’s history. She came up with volumes about females in several different occupations. When she mentioned Petticoat Whalers I thought it was a monograph on corset makers. In fact it’s about women on whaling ships. A heroine on a whaler? Lots of men to chose from: good. Lack of privacy: bad.

Female lighthouse keepers. This one has possibilities. Imagine Hugh Jackman washing up on your rock.

And lastly, my personal favorite, female abortionists. I’d like to see that one get by an editor.

What is the least likely occupation you can think of for a heroine in a romance novel, historical or otherwise? Could it be made to work? And what occupation makes you glad you are at home with a deadline, two inches of dirt on the floor and an entire room full of dirty laundry? Speaking for myself, I am incredibly happy I’m not a meatpacker.

Miranda is offering up a prize! One commenter will win a signed copy of her debut novel, Never Resist Temptation

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You may not realize this, but we’ve updated the Know Your Goddesses section of the site to reflect the addition of our two new goddesses. So I thought it might be fun to see how our reader (and other writer) goddesses would answer some of these questions:

Where do you read or write?

1. Home Office
2. Waiting for your kids at soccer practice
3. Coffee Shop
4. Patio
5. In bed

What do you wear while reading or writing?

1. Jeans or shorts and a t-shirt
2. Casual slacks and shirt
3. Sweats
4. Nothing
5. PJs
6. Taffeta and tiara

What is your favorite beverage to sip whilst reading or writing?

1. Coffee
2. Tea
3. Soft Drink
4. Water
5. Tab
6. Other

 

What would you do for chocolate?

1. Walk over really hot sand
2. Walk in hot water
3. Walk through fire (if the chocolate didn’t melt, of course)
4. Blech

What would you do for a kiss from Hugh Jackman?

1. Jump through hoop of fire
2. Throw myself from the top of a burning building onto the top of his limo and hope he would notice before the ambulance scraped me off and hauled me away
3. Wrestle his huge hulking body guards to the ground using my high-falutin’ kung fu techniques, regardless of the choke holds and flying meaty elbows I might encounter
4. Anything he wanted
5. Hugh who?

What are your favorite gifts to receive (you can list more than one)?

1. Food
2. Jewelry
3. Clothes
4. Books, DVDs, or CDs 
5. Knick-knacks
6. Practical stuff (like an appliance or a manicure set)
7. Bath goodies
8. All of the above
9. None of the above

Now you can go compare your answers to ours!

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I have a confession.  I’m an Oscar-holic.  

I LOVE the Oscars.  Always  have.  Always will.  I don’t care if the show is four hours long.  It doesn’t matter if a trained monkey has written the script.  I could care less if the host would put an insomniac to sleep. (Although I doubt Hugh Jackman will bore me in the slightest!)   I have to see the Oscars and that’s final.

My parents were both movie fans.  Movies were something we always did together even when I was a child.  My dad took me to some pretty unacceptable choices.  Shhh.  Don’t tell my mom!

When I was pregnant with my first son during the hottest summer on record, and working in an office without air, my dad would take me to movies after work in the blessed chill of the theater.  My mom and I still hit the movies together whenever we can.

The tradition continued with my boys.  One thing they still like to do is watch a movie with Mom.  I made sure they saw all the classics–Young Frankenstein, Animal House, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Some Like it Hot, The African Queen, Schindler’s List, Jaws, ET, Star Wars.

On Oscar night we have our own Oscar party–champagne, take out Chinese, and an Oscar pool.  Just like a football pool, we all place our bets , and the one with the most correct answers wins the pot.

 

Are you an Oscar-holic?  What do you like/dislike about the Oscars?  Will you watch this year?

I thought it would be fun to run a contest.  Fill out your Oscar ballot and send it to me at LHANDEL120 @ aol.com  Put Oscar Contest in the Subject Line.

One lucky winner will be chosen to win an autographed advance copy of my May book DOOMSDAY CAN WAIT.

 

BEST PICTURE

[   ] The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 

[   ] Frost/Nixon 

[   ] Milk 

[   ] The Reader 

[   ] Slumdog Millionaire

 

DIRECTOR 

[   ] David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 

[   ] Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

[   ] Gus Van Sant, Milk

[   ] Stephen Daldry, The Reader

[   ] Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire 

 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

[   ] Richard Jenkins, The Visitor 

[   ] Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon 

[   ] Sean Penn, Milk 

[   ] Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 

[   ] Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE 

[   ] Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married 

[   ] Angelina Jolie, Changeling

[   ] Melissa Leo, Frozen River

[   ] Meryl Streep, Doubt

[   ] Kate Winslet, The Reader

 

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

 (More commonly known as WHO GETS TO LOSE TO HEATH LEDGER)

[   ] Josh Brolin, Milk

[   ] Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder

[   ] Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

[   ] Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

[   ] Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road 

 

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

[   ] Amy Adams, Doubt

[   ] Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

[   ] Viola Davis, Doubt

[   ] Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

[   ] Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

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