Marie Force, Love At First Flight: Author Guest Post & Giveaway 6.30.09

Today Marie Force, author of Love at First Flight is guest posting at The Book Faery Reviews thanks to Danielle over at SourceBooks and thanks Maria for stopping by!  I hope TBFR readers take the time to answer Maria’s question below…I know I’ll be thinking about it as well.    Be sure to leave a comment as she’s letting us give away a copy of her book.  One winner who has a US or Canada mailing address will be randomly selected for a copy.  The giveaway runs now thru Friday, July 3rd.   

Alpha vs. Beta: What’s Your Pleasure?
By: Marie Force

Have you ever done something just because it seemed fun at the time and then later learned there’s a name for it that everyone else knows and you don’t? That is my roundabout way of saying I had no idea what alpha and beta heroes were until I’d already written them. Ryan Sanderson, the hero in my debut novel Line of Scrimmage, is a swaggering alpha. He’s all about the grand gesture (okay, some might call it blackmail, but Ryan doesn’t see it that way). He can be loud and boisterous, his ego is substantial, and his self-confidence—at least on the outside—is considerable. What saves him from being completely insufferable and makes him lovable is that underneath all his swagger and bluster, he’s freaking out about losing the only woman he’ll ever love. 

In my new book out this week, Love at First Flight, Michael Maguire is a total beta. He knows the minute he first sees Juliana in a crowded airport gate area that she’s somehow going to change his life, but instead of mounting the big campaign, he plays it cool. His heart is racing, but he shows her none of that. Rather, he offers friendship when she needs it most, a shoulder to lean on, and a steady undemanding presence. When he finally declares his feelings, I could almost feel his reticence and the courage it took to say words that weren’t well received at the time. Juliana asks a lot of Michael during their relationship. Many men would’ve given up and cut their losses, but Michael never wavers, even when he has good reason to. With every fiber of his being, he believes in her and their love.  

I wrote Love at First Flight long before Line of Scrimmage and finished both before I joined RWA and started learning the romance glossary. I discovered I’d written a classic alpha as well as a classic beta. Who knew? At home, I have a beta. He operates below the radar with a steady presence that is sometimes taken for granted by yours truly. If something breaks, he fixes it. If something rips, he sews it. (He refers to the sewing machine as a power tool.) If the kids need a costume, he makes it.  

He’s never going to come home, the way my father once famously did, with trashcans for his wife’s birthday. Just before my mother burst into tears over the thoughtless gift, he encouraged her to lift the lids where she found plane tickets to Florida taped inside. Mine isn’t about the grand gesture. He’s about the little things that add up over time. That’s not to say he isn’t capable. Recently, he got a bonus at work and came home with a Coach wallet for me. I was shocked! Not because he doesn’t buy great gifts—he does, but usually only on birthdays and Christmas, and after I tell him exactly what I want. My beta went alpha on me, and I had no idea what to do with him! (He had a few ideas…  

In Line of Scrimmage, Ryan comes to realize that his wife is far more interested in the small, daily expressions of love than she is in the grand gestures. At the end of Love at First Flight, Michael makes a gesture so grand and so sweeping that early readers have told me it made them cry. Both characters prove that inside every alpha is a bit of beta, and vice versa. 

Which do you prefer? What do you have at home? An alpha or a beta? I’ll give away a copy of each of my books, so make sure you comment to be entered into the drawing. If you’ve already read Line of Scrimmage, just let me know. If you wish to discuss all the rules I broke in Love at First Flight, visit my blog (http://mariesullivanforce.blogspot.com) for the book club discussion. Warning, there will be spoilers. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day! 

Contact Marie: marie@marieforce.com

Website: www.mariesullivanforce.com

Blog: http://mariesullivanforce.blogspot.com

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