{"id":2861,"date":"2013-10-17T12:00:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T12:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/?p=2861"},"modified":"2013-10-15T14:23:53","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T14:23:53","slug":"author-spotlight-lynda-hilburn-talks-about-the-allure-of-the-bad-boy-plus-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/17\/author-spotlight-lynda-hilburn-talks-about-the-allure-of-the-bad-boy-plus-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Author Spotlight \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Lynda Hilburn Talks About the Allure of the Bad Boy plus Giveaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a new guest author this week \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the fabulous\u00c2\u00a0Lynda Hilburn! She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here to talk about the allure of the bad boy and to give away a copy of her most recent release. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll hand things over to her now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0The Allure of the Bad Boy<\/h3>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never been surprised that vampires in books and movies are so popular.<\/p>\n

I had a psychotherapy session with a client recently which reminded me of an ongoing question in my mind: What is it about bad boys? Why are we attracted to them? Why do we abandon good sense (along with clothing, sometimes, LOL) when one walks into the room?<\/p>\n

From a psychological point of view, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re often drawn to men (or characters) who remind us (consciously or unconsciously) of an important male figure from our childhoods. Or, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re enticed by the opposite. For example, if Dad was a bad boy, depending on how his behaviors impacted us, we might either idealize or demonize him. If he was a laid-back beta male, we might crave what had been missing.<\/p>\n

Hmmm. Do we believe that fantasizing about a rebellious, borderline criminal will somehow rub off on us and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll begin to explore our primitive sides? Is this really about our desire to be wild and crazy? Unrestricted? Less like good girls<\/i>? Or do we really<\/i> want to surrender to some dark, brooding male?<\/p>\n

What is<\/i> a bad boy? When I use those words, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily mean someone who is evil. Although, he could be. In today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vampire literature, the line between \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153evil\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is often smudged (in the world of psychology, most everything lies in a vast gray area). A bad boy certainly doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t follow rules or conform to society\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ideas about what he should\/shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do. He might have a flexible moral compass. As a human, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often a risk taker, who probably wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be satisfied with a traditional nine-to-five job or a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153normal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d life. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the perfect projection screen for our fantasies.<\/p>\n

The bad boy is a celebrated archetype. We have lots of names for him: rake, cad, scoundrel, charmer, heartbreaker, ladies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 man, scamp, rascal, bounder, thug, to list a few. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s usually confident and indifferent. A man who exudes an aura of mystery (the perpetual \u00e2\u20ac\u0153strong, silent type\u00e2\u20ac\u009d). Most important, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unavailable. We humans always want what we think we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have. And, of course, once we meet this elusive troublemaker, we women begin to believe that only we can \u00e2\u20ac\u0153change him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But, will we still want him after we do? (Ah, but we hope we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t!)<\/p>\n

Unlike a lot of the bad boy heroes of romance novels (which I read and write), he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily gorgeous. So, it seems being a bad boy is more about his attitudes and behaviors than anything else. For example, my client at the beginning of this article is absolutely obsessed with a hygiene-challenged, scarred, rule-breaker on a Harley. She says life without him would be unbearable. (We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working on that.)<\/p>\n

I love vampire books, and I consider all male vampires \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and other paranormal creatures \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to be bad boys. (Which is a powerful reason we love vampires.) By their very nature, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t follow any human rules. They usually don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even adhere to the laws created for their particular mythology. Like humans, they range from charming rebels to self-absorbed sociopaths\/psychopaths.<\/p>\n

Good examples of (the wide range of) bad boys:\u00c2\u00a0 Jason Bourne, Lestat, James Bond, Dexter Morgan, Spike, Captain Jack Sparrow, Rhett Butler, Don Draper on Madmen<\/i>, James Dean, Han Solo, Eric Northman, the Neal character from White Collar<\/i>, Jamie from the Outlander books, Michael Weston on Burn Notice<\/i>, Roarke from the Eve Dallas books and my own vampire, Devereux.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Giveaway<\/h3>\n

What literary\/movie characters come to mind for you when you think of bad boys? Why do you<\/i> think we love them?<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give away a copy of one of my books\/stories (USA only for print copies, please) to one commenter here who answers those questions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a short story about Kismet and Devereux that takes place right after the events of Book #1, The Vampire Shrink: SEX IN A COFFIN.<\/p>\n

\"Sex
\nSex in a Coffin<\/strong>
\nKismet Knight Ph.D., Vampire Psychologist # 1.4<\/strong>
\nby Lynda Hilburn<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ever since Denver Psychologist Kismet Knight discovered the frightening world of the vampires, she’s been struggling to hold onto her sanity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with varying degrees of success. Join Kismet and 800-year-old Master Vampire Devereux as they share a typical night on the other side of the Looking Glass. Can a brainy scientist and an ancient bloodsucker really be an item? Friends with benefits? More?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BUY LINKS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon:\u00c2\u00a0http:\/\/amzn.to\/GWtdGP<\/a>
\nBarnes and Noble:\u00c2\u00a0http:\/\/bit.ly\/19KW4ID<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"LyndaAuthor Bio<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lynda Hilburn writes paranormal fiction. More specifically, she writes vampire books. After a childhood filled with invisible friends, sightings of dead relatives and a fascination with the occult, turning to the paranormal was a no-brainer. In her other reality, she makes her living as a psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, professional psychic\/tarot reader, university instructor and workshop presenter. Her series, Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist is being rewritten and will be republished by Quercus Books in the UK and Europe, and by Sterling Publishing\/Silver Oak in North America. The UK version of the first book in the series, “The Vampire Shrink” will be published September, 2011. The North American version a few months later. Book #2 (tentatively titled “Blood Therapy”), which is a new book, will be published a year later, and book #3 (the book that used to be called “Dark Harvest”) will follow a year later. She also has a short story in the anthology, “Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance,” called “Blood Song.” “Diary of a Narcissistic Bloodsucker” and “Undead in the City” are available through Amazon.com and Smashwords.<\/p>\n

Visit Lynda at:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.lyndahilburnauthor.com<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lyndahilburnauthor<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.twitter.com\/lyndahilburn<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/paranormalityuniverse.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a new guest author this week \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the fabulous\u00c2\u00a0Lynda Hilburn! She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here to talk about the allure of the bad boy and to give away a copy of her most recent release. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll hand things over to her … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blogger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}