Spending time with Jamie Fraser

Well, school holidays are over: school is back.
So is the muse.

I don 't know about you writers out there who have children, but I found having my kids home, as nice as it was, totally cramped my style. I couldn't write or edit for more than a few moments with out them interrupting me to ask a question. So between kids and work I found I wasn't really managing to achieve anything much when it came to my writing.

I did manage to read quite a few good books though, plowing my was very happily though the first four of Diana Gabaldon's books, with a few others thrown in for good measure.

I have really enjoyed reading Diana's books, her characters and their stories are very compelling. I love Jamie. Somehow, she has managed to capture the essence of the dream man - loyal, honest, dangerous, sexy - and he is so human. He makes mistakes, he's by no means perfect, and he scratches his butt. He is so charming and endearing and let's face it, the kilt and the Scottish accent .... swoon.

A while ago the editor Nathan Bransford (I think this is right) asked his blog readers who their all time favourite literary hero was. The over whelming favourites were Diana Gabaldon's Jamie and Jane Austen's Mr Darcy, but no one seemed able to pin point why these two men are so popular. What is it about these guys that gets our blood going?

At the time I hadn't read Diana's books and was intrigued by Jamie Fraser's popularity. Having now read half of them I'm pretty certain it's Jamie humanity that wins the heart of the reader. Too many times in novels writers try to make their heroes perfect, they almost seem like demi-gods. But in my humble opinion, it's a man's imperfections that tug at our heartstrings and make us fall in love with them.

Note: Diana Gabaldon's books are R16 (they contain coarse language, violence and sexual scenes)