by Mary Jo
It’s no accident that military heroes feature frequently in romances, whether they’re medieval knights or modern day SEALs. Soldiers and sailors are generally fit and hunky, and in modern day stories, they may be tough, capable females as well as males.
Creating a military protagonist is shorthand for a number of traits: courage, honor, loyalty, and a willingness to put the needs of others above one’s one needs. Romance shares these powerful values, so characters with such traits make admirable heroes and heroines.
Also, romances and love in general often involve nurturing, and war can create characters in grave need of nurturing and healing. Wounded heroes are a particular specialty of mine. The hero of my May book, Never Less Than a Lady, is one a such.
Usually military service is back story because I want to focus on consequences and a developing relationship, but in my book Shattered Rainbows , I went onto the field of Waterloo, so I’ll be giving away a copy of that book to one commenter on this post.
I got the idea for a military appreciation blog when I read the most recent SOS America blog by Kim Lowe. Kim is a former Air Force captain and current major in the reserves and military spouse. Long-time Word Wench readers may remember a lovely post she did called Sisterhood of the Service, a discussion of the bonds uniting military spouses.
Today the Word Wenches are the site of Kim’s Wandering Wednesday blog, so I encourage you to click over to her site to see how she met most of the Wenches. In addition, I’ve asked other Wenches for their feelings on writing the military into romance, and I’ll end with a piece written by Kim Lowe.
Nicola Cornick:
I’ve always loved reading romance books with a military thread or background. As someone who comes from a family with military connections, it was one of the proudest moments of my life when I was given the honorary rank of major in the UK army when I worked in a military college. That role also gave me the opportunity to meet men and women in the armed forces of over 40 countries around the world and observe at close quarters the qualities I admire in them: strength of character, courage, integrity – and perfect time-keeping.
The first military hero I wrote was in my third book, The Larkswood Legacy. He was a British Navy captain who had been accused of cowardice at the Battle of Lake Champlain in 1812 and had to clear his name.
More recently I have written two military heroes in my forthcoming series. There’s another Navy man (yes, I’m drawn to them!) who is an explorer. A line in one of my research books summed up the idea of the nineteenth century British naval officer for me: “There were lots of young officers anxious for adventure and promotion. They were efficient and daring with polish and dash.” The series also features an American sea captain with all those qualities and more, and an Irish revolutionary hero fighting for the French!
In writing the series I was inspired by a song called Love Farewell that I heard on the Help for Heroes website. It’s a song from the Napoleonic Wars sung by folk singer and actor John Tams, best known for playing the Rifleman Daniel Hagman in the TV series Sharpe, and The Band and Bugles of The Rifles. It’s poignant and heroic and I think as relevant now as it was in the Napoleonic Wars.
Cara Elliott/Andrea Pickens:
Strength, honor, discipline—I think military heroes, especially ones in a historical romance, conjure up a certain image for most readers. There's also a swashbuckling aura of danger to them, which adds to their allure. Growing up, I loved the Horatio Hornblower series, and then became a great fan of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books and Bernard Cornwall's Sharpe series.
You have to admit, there's something awfully attractive about devil-may-care bravery and calm courage under fire. And then there's the uniform . . . an officer in his regimentals cuts such a dashing figure. (Remember all the excitement in Pride and Prejudice when the army takes up residence in Merryton!)
When I look at a portrait of Wellington in all his glory, I see someone who exudes an air of quiet self-confidence. It's hard not to find that appealing. (On a personal note, I've another reason for thinking men look quite handsome in uniform—here are my father and mother just before their wedding.)
I haven't written too many military men, but it just so happens that the hero in my just-released book is a war hero-turned-artist. For me, it was really interesting to juxtapose a soldier's stoic toughness with a softer, more sensitive side. Steel swords crossed with sable paint brushes-I hope readers will find the mix intriguing.
Jo Beverley:
I realize that what fascinates me about military men is the uniqueness of the experience, which I see reflected in the writings of Georgian and Regency military men. Some relate adventures with exuberance while others write of trials and anguish, and often there's not much to choose between what actually happened. Some look back in sorrow, but others sigh for the good old days.
In my books, Cyn Malloren (My Lady Notorious) fights his brother Rothgar to get into the army. Christian Hill in A Secret Wedding is raring to go, as is Van Vandeimen, (The Demon's Mistress), dragging his friends, George Hawkinville and Con Somerford with him.
Con (The Dragon's Bride) is a different type. He becomes a soldier because he's a second son and his friends are doing it, but he's happy to become a civilian when he inherits the family estate. Only duty sends him back, because there was such a shortage of experienced officers for Waterloo, and it almost breaks him.
The third of these "three heroes" is George Hawkinville (The Devil's Heiress), my military geek. He gets a commission in a cavalry regiment, but is soon grabbed by the Quartermaster's division and put to work on the chess-like administration of troop movements and provisioning. He loves the work but feels guilty about how rarely he sees action.
I wrote Hawk that way because I think romance novels don't pay enough attention to the support services. One day, I want to do an engineer.
Anne Gracie:
I've had a number of military heroes — all former soldiers, rather than currently active. I've never set a book during the war (the Peninsular/Napoleonic war that is) — I'll leave that to Bernard Cornwell, who wrote the magnificent, action-packed Sharpe series. My main interest is in soldiers after they return home and try to settle back into civilian life again. I often like to write about people whose lives are in transition in some form.
My very first book, Gallant Waif, had a hero who'd been a soldier, and a heroine who'd been caught up in war, too. They'd both been wounded in very different ways — he physically, she emotionally — and because they each understood the reality of what the other had endured, they were able to save and heal each other.
My current series is also about former soldiers, friends who've returned from the war and are now trying to carve out a life for themselves back home— or trying to avoid it, as the case may be. Most of them don't have strong family ties and the brotherly camaraderie that forms between soldiers during war is an important factor in what sustains them.
In Australia we call that kind of friendship mateship, and my father had it with his two brothers-in-law, who were both in the army with him. They knew they could call on the others for help at any time, and they'd get it, promptly and with no questions asked. They never would ask, of course — men of pride, one and all — but they knew they could. It's that kind of friendship that's between the men in my "devil riders" series.
From our new Word Wench, who will make her bow on June 16th:
I haven't written a straightforward military hero yet, but when I wanted to put a man in charge of a band of a canny, suspicious, formidable undercover operatives, I made him a former military officer with battlefield experience.
In the planning stages of the book I wondered -- should I make my hero even more skilled and lethal than his men? The best marksman, the best wrestler, the best knife wielder? Should the leader of this group be the über-fighter?
That's heroic on a visceral level. We love a man strong enough to defend his family and his home.
But the more I looked at my story, the more convinced I became that particular fighting skills were pretty much irrelevant. My hero ruefully admits he's not much of a knife fighter. What I needed was somebody the others would trust and follow without question.
Officers are not necessarily the most deadly individual fighters themselves. They have good judgement, a cool head under fire, and an absolute, practical dedication to the welfare of their men. They make a military unit into a cohesive strike force instead of fifty separate fighters.
That's why I wanted a military hero. Because of the teamwork. Because of the leadership.
USAF Captain Kim Lowe (ret.):
When asked why I read romance books, I respond, “It’s an escape from military life.” But is it? I enjoy historicals, particularly Regencies, because I have lived in Europe. I’ve toured picturesque towns, crumbling castles, and historic battlefields. I’ve experience other cultures, savored different food, and seen history in the making, including the fall of the Berlin Wall. All because of the military.
I appreciate writers’ creativity – they celebrate life in the past, present, and future. They give us hope that there is a Happily Ever After as their characters experience the same problems that we experience. Romance writers engage in free speech, echoing the cliché, “Use it or loose it.” Writers’ characters, settings, and plots remind us why we have free speech – our world is diverse. In respecting diversity, we respect ourselves.
In the end, I discovered that romance writing mirrors military life. Like the military, romance writers seek to improve themselves through education. Like the military, romance writers strive for individual achievement and encourage others at the same time. Like the military, romance writers work as a team to improve their work product and work environment. Romance writers embrace “life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” that the military have taken an oath to defend. Thus, the military’s sacrifices are not in vain.
I write a monthly newsletter for Kathyrn Falk’s military charity, Support Our Soldiers (SOS) America Inc. I promote romance reading, military issues, international travel, and Hawaiian culture. I also publish a weekly column, Wednesday Wanderings, to visit special places around the world and Internet. The blogsite is open to all to encourage a cultural exchange between military and non-military readers. Come over this week for Wednesday Wandering to learn how I became a fan of the Word Wenches.
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My thanks to Kim Lowe and my sister Wenches for sharing thoughts on the intersection of romance and the military. As I said above, I’ll send a copy of Shattered Rainbows, my Waterloo story (though that’s only a small part of the book), to someone who comments on this post before midnight Thursday. Share what you think about military elements in romance. (Note: when I was putting together this blog, Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe came up a lot!)
And to all those brave men and women who have served this country—thank you for your service.
Mary Jo