 |
| Heo Nam-jun and Lim Ji-yeon in My Royal Nemesis on Netflix |
Welcome to another post in the Supernatural Underground Backlist Series. Today's feature is from June 2010 by the wonderful author Kimberly Derting. Here she talks about the essentials of nice guys and bad boys in our fiction, and real life!
Which do you prefer?
***
NICE GUYS versus BAD BOYS
... Today
I’m talking about the Nice Guys vs. the Bad Boys (you know what I’m
talkin’ about, ladies)!
In my YA novel, THE BODY FINDER, my main character Violet is in love with her best friend Jay…a very Nice Guy. But is he too nice? Of course not (says the author!), but I do see of a lot of debate over the Bad Boy vs. Nice Guy topic, especially in reviews. With Bad Boys, the concern is that we’re teaching girls that it’s okay to let someone treat them badly, to walk all over them. With Nice Guys, the problem is they don’t always make our hearts race or our pulse pound.
In my YA novel, THE BODY FINDER, my main character Violet is in love with her best friend Jay…a very Nice Guy. But is he too nice? Of course not (says the author!), but I do see of a lot of debate over the Bad Boy vs. Nice Guy topic, especially in reviews. With Bad Boys, the concern is that we’re teaching girls that it’s okay to let someone treat them badly, to walk all over them. With Nice Guys, the problem is they don’t always make our hearts race or our pulse pound.
So which is better, the Bad Boy with his tough guy charm and bad-ass attitude? Or the Nice Guy who opens doors and brings his girl flowers?
As a writer, I have an opinion, a fairly strong one. We need them both. At least on paper. Because here’s the deal: how boring would it be if all the guys we read about were cut from the same cloth? How predictable would books be if all the men were just a cookie cutter mold of the last? Blech!
(Really, do they come any nicer than Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything?)
And let me just clarify, in real life I love my nice guy husband who carries in my groceries and makes sure my car has gas before I leave. I also like that he doesn’t let me walk all over him. Because, let's face it, there’s a HUGE difference between the Nice Guy and the Simpering Wimp.
But when I’m reading, I want to be surprised; I want the Bad Boys gone good, the Nice Guys turned bad, and everything in between. I don’t always want to know which is which... read the entire post HERE
***
Find out more about Kimberly Derting and her award-winning young adult novels including The Body Finder Series.
Happy reading, and be sure to let us know your preference - Nice Guy or Bad Boy - in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment