Issue 17 - InJoy Magazine

Integratealso see our colour advertisement on page 14sex… six things that give dark hero appealKim Falconer : Falling for Bad Boyshttp://voyagerblog.com.au/2011/05/06/kim-falconer-falling-for-bad-boysWorkshop with Kim Falconer‘how to write anti-heroes to die for’August 1, 2011 @ 9:30 amfor more info and conact details seeByron Bay Writers Festival 2011 colour ad on page 17We do love our bad boys! Bella Swan falls for a dead man. Beauty falls for a Beast. Sookie Stackhousegets with the hottest vampire on screen; Milton’s daughters are enchanted by their Angel of Ruin.Speculative fiction has produced an abundance of dark heroes and as I begin writing a new series I findmyself asking, what’s so mesmerising about bad boys?Here are my top six reasons to date bad boys . . .#1 Dark heroes are hot. This is not just a visual quality but an energetic one and it cantranscend the traditional notions of beauty. The dark hero has something. You feel it right away andwhether it is eye blazing good looks like Damon Salvatore or the Joker’s sexy ugly, he sets your night onfire.#2 Dark heroes are erotic. They’ve been touched by Eros, the god of love. Harriet Eismandescribes it like this: Eros brings beauty, meaning and divinity into our lives. It comes to us through avery particular epiphany, a passionate inspiration . . . We long to follow it always. But this is not the wholestory. For Eros also brings us obsessions, cruelty, abandonment, and betrayal. It may come throughanguish . . .#3 Dark heroes are Mysterious. Their past is sketchy, or tragic. They carry a burdenthat has become their secret mission. This makes them unpredictable. Not formulaic. They can do theunexpected. They can get away with murder.#4 Dark heroes speak their minds. They have the best dialog ever because they don’tcare what others think. It means their voice can be sharp, edgy and liberated. Their conversations flow inways the moralistically constrained characters cannot.#5 Dark heroes are amoral. They break rules and usually feel good about it. If they performa selfless act, it’s not because it was the ‘right thing’ to do but because they were moved by their hearts.This is incredibly beguiling.#6 Dark heroes are powerful. That’s alluring in itself but they are also comfortable withsuch power. Writers and directors can put them in more danger and under more duress. The risk factorskyrockets because they are so hard to kill!Hot, dangerous, dark and mysterious, there can be no doubt. The erotic nature of the outlaw touches ussomewhere deep down in our souls. How about you? Who are your favourite dark heroes? I’d love to hearabout them!Kim Falconer is the author of the Quantum Enchantment and Quantum Encryption trilogies. The latest in the Quantum Encryptionseries is Road to the Soul and Kim is currently working on the page proofs of the third book in the series, Journey by Night! VisitKim’s website and find out more about Kim and her books!www.kimfalconer.cominjoy 12