(Day 24) Guest Post: Rae Lori

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"Throughout her writing career, Rae has written comic book and film related articles which have appeared in online publications such as Comic Stack, Suite101, CinemaGap and Dark Moon Rising. As a result, her alma mater's English course chose one of her articles as an example for how to write an article. She also served as editor and contributing writer of her school newsletter.

For her contributions to the newsletter and her leadership, she has won various Success & Leadership awards sponsored by her alma mater where she received her BA in Media Arts & Animation.


Her manuscript, Hotel Sunset, won an Honorable Mention award in the 73rd Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition. Under various pen names, she has written books, novellas and short stories that run the genre gamut of science fiction, fantasy, short roman noir and paranormal romance and many more waiting to drip onto the page.


A fan of David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock, she also has a love for film, vampires and visual storytelling which she couples with the art of the written word to tell her stories. While penning her works, she loves to create artwork that explores her strong female characters and the men in their lives."

Bio courtesy of Rae's website.

Connect with Rae:
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

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Rascals, Rogues and Really Bad Boys: The Allure of the Alpha Hero

Ahh the Alpha Male. He’s guarded and protective. He’s outrageously handsome, Most times he's bullheaded but when the right lady comes along to melt the ice around his heart, he allows his inner sensitivity to shine through. The Alpha has become synonymous with the romance genre and perhaps defines the very idea of romantic fantasies. Coming from other genres into romance, I knew what an alpha guy was but an Alpha Male (or Alpha Hero, if you will, including all caps) is a completely different story. In real life I don’t tend to go for more domineering hyper masculine guys. I usually like sexy nerds who share my love for all things geeky and sci-fi. Bad boys usually turned me off. In fiction, it’s a totally different world. Leverage is one of my favorite shows which features the very sexy and brawny Christian Kane as Eliot, the muscle of the group, and one of partners—perhaps his best friend—is played by Aldiss Hodge as the very hot and brainy Hardison. Two of my favorite male types in one awesome show.

When I encountered the Alpha Hero in the romance genre coupled with my love for action movie stars, I started to realize the potentials of alpha males in their complexities. There was something attractive about the guys that want things their way or no way who had the ability to take charge. And they wouldn’t be shy at all about letting the heroine know about it.

What was it about the Alpha Male?

For me, I’ve come to look for a few things when I pick up books featuring Alpha Heroes. I wouldn’t quite say ‘expectations’ because I still like to leave a little room for surprise where dangerous heroes are concerned. I like heroes that take charge and cross that line between dangerous and unpredictable. Think Anne Stuart’s type of heroes which may cross into ‘Gamma’ territory where they are just broken down, beyond repair heroes who toe the line near becoming a villain. Dangerous Alphas still have a glint of heroic quality that grows throughout the story.

Paranormal romance and the urban fantasy genre have opened up a whole new setting for the Alpha Male to play in. With the rise of strong heroines leading the genre, the Alpha male now has his own equal partner. Sometimes she’s a bit hard headed and fiercely independent, but the Alpha Male doesn’t give up trying to show her just how good they can be together and how better the conflict will be solved with both minds working together.

Although I like cheering for a strong heroine, there’s just something about the strong Alpha Male who wants to take charge and have things his way. I’m a gal who loves testosterone driven action flicks because there’s just something so sexy about a man who can pummel the bad guys on one hand with his snappy moves and then be sensitive and loving with the woman he loves on the other hand. If I can this experience in a book, all the better!

The best Alphas are usually in some kick-butt type of career like assassins, secret agents, Navy SEALs (thank you Suzanne Brockmann!) and in paranormals they are the outsider. The vampire, werewolves and otherworldly creatures offer up a whole different world of take charge men. There’s the element of ‘will they kill you or kiss you to death’ that’s just so alluring in a fantasy.

Perhaps that’s why romances have had such success with meshing with the fantasy subgenres within the paranormal realm. Alpha Males in real life may be a pain to deal with, but in the fantasy realm it’s good to be bad. ;-)

Small note to readers: Fellow fans of dangerous Alpha Males are welcome to join us over at the Goodreads Dangerous Bad Boys group where we chat about our favorite Alpha Male Heroes, tackle some book challenges and write our own dangerous bad boy stories in the writing challenges which you can check out in the archives.

http://www.raelori.com

 

'Art and any media of the mind is most powerful with a voice' 

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Rae is offering a copy of A Kiss of Ashen Twilight and Within the Shadows of Mortals.

Will it be love or death when fairy and vampire come together?

Haunted by dreams of a mysterious yet seductive figure, Ariya awakens to a more dangerous nightmare: a vicious elemental creature nearly wiping out her entire family outside her bedroom doors. Her parents urge her to cross over into the mortal realm and there she is saved from another attack against strange shifter wolves. Her rescuer is Jace Archane, an immortal Nightwalker from the House of Blood within the Ashen Twilight House. The very same man from her dreams. Jace and Ariya's attraction to each other is evident.

Yet Jace is reluctant to lower his guard, having spent lifetimes coming to terms with death's curse in his Nightwalker form: everyone he feeds from dies. Ariya is undeterred by his fear of contact and despite his attempts at distance himself, she remains by his side in a desperate bid to stay safe and near to Jace. Now the elemental has followed her. When a woman of the House of Blood is murdered after leaving Jace's home the fight is brought to the doorstep of the Ashen Twilight House.

Now the race is on to find out the origins of the elemental creature and stop the horrific killing spree. As they dig deeper into the mystery, they will uncover a truth that ties the elemental's origins to a forgotten ally with plans to overthrow the Archane legacy and obtain Ariya's fairy blood fueling an immortal thirst for power.

After Liam Blakedon’s death, a string of events unfolds. Ariya is now an Aziza faerie Queen settling with Jace Archane, a Regent in the House of Blood, in the Aziza realm. The houses continue to move west after fighting for their survival against the elemental led by Liam Blakedon, a former guard in the Archane house.

A new beginning is on the horizon until blood is spilled on their lands once again…

Late on the highway leading to California, a massacre breaks out in the darkness of night ending in the death of a Lycan family. Word gets back to Ariya and Jace in the Aziza Fae realm and they return to see how much has changed since they took their retreat. Mortals have become aware that Nightwalkers, Lycans and Shifter Elves are alive and well in their city. Worse yet, Rich and his pregnant mate, Joanna, have disappeared on the trip from Arizona to California.Ariya knows that Jace is tired of running and hiding after centuries of living within the shadows of mortals. Now, she must choose a path that will force her to decide whether to help her immortal allies or rule the broken kingdom left behind after her parent's death. Soon, she finds that Jace's presence in the Aziza realm brings an ancient evil to life that only lived in fairytales...until now.

Meanwhile, a group of mysterious hunters begin picking off members of the houses one by one. Soon the house in turmoil as hunters attack, bringing on a fateful battle between mortal and immortal. Jace’s relationship with Ariya tenses and he may end up losing more than his humanity as he straddles the line between revenge and redemption.

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