Edith here!
Okay, Gentle Readers - a test.
What do the following actors and musicians, here and gone, have in common??
Brad Pitt
Orlando Bloom
Viggo Mortenson
Van Johnson
Laurence Olivier
Owen Wilson
Robert Redford
Richard Widmark
Heath Ledger
Robert Mitchum
Burt Lancaster
Kirk Douglas
Jon Voigt
James Cagney
Roger Moore
Daniel Craig
Jude Law
Peter O'Toole
William Holden
Woody Harrelson
Sting
Alan Jackson
Rod Stewart
Ready?
They all are - or at least, were for a movie or album or two: Blond!
And what's wrong with that?
I love the look of blond men.
My father was blond before he lost his hair. My dh had silvery wings at his temples when I met him, and turned entirely silver haired soon after (and no, it wasn't because he married me, as he claimed). My new boy baby grandchildren are respectively, blonde and red.
And yet whenever I write a blond, dark gold, or silver haired hero - he turns up dark haired on the bookcover.
And whenever I ask why (this has been at different publishers) I am told that the art department doesn't like blond men. And that the Sales Department says they don't sell a book!
They didn't sell books about famously hot and fair haired literary heroes?
The fantastic albino, Prince Elric, and his series, by Michael Moorcock
The immortal beloved Francis Lymond of the Lymond Chronicles, by Dorothey Dunnett.
Huh?
Fabio didn't sell books?
That gorgeous trio of pig-farmer cover models didn't sell books?
Well, yes, that was then and this is now.
But I'm tired of writing emails assuring readers that it wasn't my fault.
And I wonder if I should give up blond heroes?
I fought like a tiger but had blond heroes on five of my bookcovers! And a redhead (boy, was that a fight)! on another.
But these days? No.
They say that naturally blond people will become extinct in a few hundred years. They are already in the minority in America, and fading fast.
Is it that blond is considered feminine? The list of blonde heroines is too long to put here. Not to mention the many movie actresses and pop singers. In fact, a dark haired female beauty is in trouble these days. (Interesting fact: Brunettes were all the rage in Regency England! I guess they thought the classic fair English Beauty was too commonplace?)
And now, a unique contest here for you:
Tell me please, your opinion.
What hair color do you prefer in a hero? Does it matter?
And most importantly, does a blond man on the cover of a romance make you reach for another book? If so, why? Or why not?
And since I'm speaking of the here and gone, the winner will receive any one book from my backlist (if I still have it, so it would be a choice of two, please).
And my eternal thanks.
Ready to go for it? Then, tell me do. Blondes may have more fun, but what is it about blond heroes that you may shun?