Reluctant Hero

By Bronwyn Green

When Lisabet asked me if I’d be interested in being a guest blogger on The Grip, I said of course. Then I started thinking about the topic and panicked. How on earth do you pick a favorite character? It’s almost like asking me which of my sons I love most. Almost. While I could never answer the child question, I discovered that I can address the character question.

After giving the topic a lot of thought, I’ve finally settled on Micah Bleddyn, Overlord of Maelgwn—and the hero of my erotic romance, Overlord’s Vessel. Micah is special to me for several reasons—many involving being my first. He was my first attempt at writing an alpha hero. He was the hero in my first ever erotic romance. And he was the hero in the first story I ever sold, but he’s got more going for him than that.

Of course, he’s attractive, intelligent, strong and passionate. After all, this is a romance novel. However, he’s not what I’d consider the typical gung-ho hero type. Micah is what I refer to as a reluctant hero. This is a guy who’s content with his lot in life. He’s not looking for power or glory, he has no desire to rule the kingdom. He’s comfortable in his position as a warrior, and the second son of the Overlord. He’s worked hard to get where he is, and other than defending the kingdom from invading forces, he’s got no real plans. . .until everything goes to hell.

After the death of his father and the disappearance of his brother, the heir, Micah is thrust into the role of Overlord, ruler of the Kingdom of Maelgwn. Used to seeing to the welfare of his troops, he’s now responsible for the entire realm. In addition, he’s now expected to provide the country with an heir of his own. He’s gone from having his fair share of responsibility to all the responsibility virtually overnight. He’s also got some emotional scars and hidden angst because I just can’t seem to write a story that’s free of emotional baggage. Now, I’m not talking complete monogrammed sets of emotional baggage—just a carry-on or two.

In a lot of ways, this was a character that pretty much wrote itself, so watching his evolution from reluctant hero to actual hero was a joy to witness. Also, the man is adventurous and brilliant in bed—who doesn’t enjoy that?

Despite the fact that he’s thrust into a situation he wants no part of, he rises to the occasion and meets the challenge. He discovers that he’s capable of not only doing what’s expected of him, but strong enough to make necessary changes for the good of his people. He also eventually allows himself to be vulnerable to experience love. Protectiveness comes naturally to him—emotional honesty doesn’t, so his experience with actual love, is something of a shock to him.

I won’t spoil the story, but the heroine, who’s another one my favorite characters, is a catalyst for his personal growth. Because of his developing feelings, he takes emotional risks he’s never before considered. He allows himself to be vulnerable to her and in saving her, he allows himself to be to be saved. It’s not weakness, but strength that allows him to expose the hidden parts of himself to her and in doing so, he becomes whole, and also my favorite hero.

BIO: Bronwyn lives in Michigan with her wonderful husband, two amazing sons and six somewhat-psychotic cats. When not tormenting her characters, she can usually be found helping with reading and writing projects in her sons' classrooms as well as being the car pool mom extraordinaire. Besides writing, she also enjoys reading, knitting, sewing, cross stitching, pottery, drawing—basically anything that helps her avoid cleaning and cooking.

Get your own copy of Overload's Vessel here.

Visit Bronwyn online at http://www.bronwyngreen.com/ and http://www.bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/ .