Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The male perspective

Posted by: David Bridger
Male authors and our male leading characters are ten a penny in many genres. Men are certainly well represented in fantasy, but maybe not so much in urban fantasy, which has tended to be dominated by female authors writing strong female characters.

Great male authors whose genres include urban fantasy are Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher, and a new star dawning in a big way is Kevin Hearne, whose Hounded is simply the best fun I've had reading a book in years.

And then there's me. :)

Hey, please don't think I'm trying to place myself in company with those great names. They're famous mountaineers on top of the world, while I'm training on rock faces and hoping for greatness one day.

But I am a bloke and I do write male characters along with my female ones. Stella at Book Lovers Inc talked about this when she reviewed my new Carina Press release Quarter Square this week:

What made me pick up Quarter Square - the fact that its author was a man - didn't let me down. The difference in logic, perception and handling of events was refreshing and authentic. It was wonderful climbing inside the mind of a man and seeing and understanding why he does what he does. It was interesting to see Joe's reasoning behind his hurt of discovering his wife having an affair with his best friend and that it was mostly the sense of betrayal which infuriated him: that he doesn't begrudge his best friend for falling in love with his wife but for lying to him and making him lose his best friend. Reading a story through a man's perspective is fun and liberating: a man narrator is blunter, doesn't overanalyze things (even though he spends a fair time on exploring his emotions it definitely does not come off as mushy), and remains more realistic.
Full review here.

I'll be available to discuss The Male Perspective in an open Q&A session all day this Friday at Romance Divas. It's part of RD's wonderful week-long Not Going To Conference Conference, which is completely free and fantastic fun. Please come along (it's easy to register) and say hello.

And if you'd like to meet my urban fantasy hero Joe Walker in person, Quarter Square is available from Carina Press now.

9 comments:

  1. Wow, I am mentioned! Even quoted! I'm feeling special :-D lol

    But seriously, those of you UF lovers who would love to read something different, you should definitely check out Quarter Square! I loved the difference in perspective from a female protagonist and thanks to the first person narrative it was exciting for me as a woman to be inside the head of a man and see his thoughts and feelings "first hand". :-)

    Great post David, thanks for sharing the news about the Romance Divas event, didn't know about that, will have to check it out.

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  2. Romance Divas is one of my favourite places in the whole world, Stella, and this event is like a week-long party every year. I love it!

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  3. Personally my favourite romances (or parts, when it's dual POV) are those written from the male POV, whether it's written by a man or a woman. I just love to fall in love with a guy's mind :D

    And great review Stella! If only I could interest you in fantasy pirates lol

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  4. Ack! Forgot to say how much I enjoyed those first chapters of Quarter Square. I'm looking forward to reading the rest,

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  5. Thank you, Julia! Your critique of my opening chapters (which, now I come to think of it, was a door prize I won in the NGTCC last year) was insightful and very helpful.

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  6. Woot! I can't wait to read this, David. And I love love love RD.

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  7. Thank you, Jenn!

    And you're one of the reasons I love RD! :)

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  8. i'm eagerly anticipating your POV on Friday :D

    RD is an amazing place. everyone should come visit!

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  9. I look forward to your questions, Julie. :D

    Yes, RD is a very special place.

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