Friday 11 May 2012

David Gandy, gadgets and geeks


I was originally going to write this post back in February, but with Valentine’s Day I thought there was enough talk about what makes the perfect hero, what we want in a man, so the idea got filed and forgotten. Until now when a mention of Mr Gandy reminded me :-)

Entangled Publishing had a submission call open at the start of the year, and they were looking for subs where the main character was a geek. One of my WIP’s does in fact have a heroine who’s a bit of a geek (because I’m a bit of a geek), but it got me wondering what it was about the geek hero that appeals….

I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for the tall, dark handsome kind of hero, the type of man who is successful, dominant (but not bossy!)… yeah the alpha hero. But having worked in IT I’ve know plenty of geeks, and some of them have been sexy, and some definitely haven’t rung my bell…and although I like my hero rugged and with a six pack, he also needs to be smart, because although I don’t want to talk bits and bytes in bed (I really don't) I do want my mind challenging as well as my libido.

So when women say that they like geeks, and would  love to see one as the leading man, what exactly do they mean? Is that a ‘David Gandy with a gadget’ type of geek (see I did get back to him!), or do they mean the everyday under nourished, (as in too busy to eat), pale from lack of sun/daylight, straggly haired, no social skills type of geek? Your normal, everyday average geek that you can spot in the corner hugging his electronic wizadry?  

Or is the clue in the word ‘normal’, do we just mean that any man be a hero providing he’s extra-ordinary in some way to the heroine, to the reader? That a guy with brains is as sexy as a guy with brawn? Does it all just come down to how he reacts when he finds a woman that finally gets his attention, the one that can drag him away from his gadgets, the one that he can be as obsessive about as he is about his toys? Because geeks can truly be obsessive believe me….

So what about you? Do you need toned abs and a cute smile? Or a man with a challenging mind and a way with his hands? Can a geek be alpha, or is it that we want that little bit of beta? Or maybe a bit of everything?

6 comments:

  1. I love your post Susie! Personally, I think any guy can be sexy and appealing in lots of different ways, it all depends on the reader's pov. I've never really understood the whole Beta concept...surely if a man, who is a bit of geek and nerdy can take control of a situation, make a woman feel sexy, challenge the heroine with his intelligence (and long keyboard fingers....could also be good for other tasks, win wink!) I think that could be super sexy. Knowledgeable men are HOT! x

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    1. Thanks Samantha! I agree, I think for me a lot of it is about confidence - if a man's got that he's a good way towards winning me over (as long as its not cockiness!) and clever men can be quite inventive!! x

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  2. I love me a sexy geek. In fact, gimme any kind of geek and I'm happy. I'm a devout watcher of the IT Crowd and the Big Bang Theory. My favourite romance ever is a Blaze, can't remember the name but it was part of the fancy dress mini-series, and the hero was a computer game creator called Dexter. Very HOT.

    Actually, alphas don't really do it for me unless they are alpha's who aren't arrogant. I work for lawyers so I get enough arrogance 9 till 5 :o)

    I go for any hero, as long as there's something charming and unique about him. Hell, I even fell for Christian Grey (50 Shades) 'cause he had a good core and self-loathing issues. Its all about balancing the bad with the good I think.

    But geeks, yeah, they can be hot ;o)

    xx

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    1. I think the book was called 'Feels Like the First Time'? xx

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    2. You sound like me! Alpha has to hit just the right note - arrogance is a complete turn off. I used to watch the IT Crowd, but it's a bit close to the truth and reminds me of work :-) but I love Big Bang Theory. I think I really should write a good sexy geek hero - after all they say write what you know. Also think I'll have to look up that Blaze :-) I haven't read any of them (not quite sure why).

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    3. I think you should too :o). I'm more a Riva girl, but that was a really good Blaze. There's another about a heroine who is a geek, they're on a haunted house weekend, can't remember the name of that either, but it was brilliant. Will let you know when it comes to me!

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