HOW IS CREAM OF TARTAR GOOD FOR ROMANCE WRITING?
First, what is cream of Tartar?
Well, according to my honey, it’s a powder he found in the spice cabinet that I use and mix with secret ingredients to create tartar sauce for fish. Um…WHAT? Honest to god, that’s what I heard him tell our son one afternoon when he came across it. Was I surprised? Nope, because he also told my daughter when she tried her hand at making scrambled eggs for the first time that he thought I put sugar in them. Sugar? That makes all kind of sense, doesn’t it?
I bring this up because I’ve just recently realized that his lack of culinary knowledge bleeds into my stories in a big way. I mean, the poor guy loves his food he just doesn’t know how to prepare it. Actually, he doesn’t care to know how to prepare it. That’s what gets me. Oh he’ll do the grilling, but for everything else? I’m on my own.
The way I see it? For the most part this works for us, the only real glitch is him imparting his limited knowledge to people who ask. Example: he had my sister convinced that I put Kahlua in my BBQ sauce. Kahlua? That was interesting. The day she made it she called me to say it tasted like something was missing. I asked her what she’d put in it so far and when I heard the ecclectic list of ingredients and who she’d gotten said list from I agreed with her – there was something missing. Like maybe one of her brain cells for listening to my honey in the first place.
When I asked him why he thought I put a liquor into the mix, he said, “Well, I know it was a dark brown liquid and from what I recall it was sweet.” He was right about that, unfortunately, it was molasses I’d used – not Kahlua. *shakes head*
Truthfully, I don’t know why I torture myself, but I had to press him on this. I wanted to know why he explains cooking things, items, or recipes when he knows absolutely nothing about them? His answer?
“People ask me.”
*Crickets.* I got nothing to say to that because he’s right.
And why is that? Why do they ask him this stuff instead of asking me? That got me to thinking. Sure, he is one of those guys who’d you want around if there was a major catastrophe, but asking him to prepare your Chicken Marsala? I don’t think so. No, seriously, I don’t.
So, right about now, you may be asking yourself how this relates to writing and alpha male and here’s the deal. Even the most capable, alpha-type guy around still has faults and doesn’t know everything. Usually? His biggest fault is that he doesn’t know he can’t do things. In fact, most times he believes that he can do everything. Making BBQ sauce for instance.
Now, when writing this type of guy in a romance the heroine will always gracefully point out where he’s erred. Yeah, I know, gracefully? Hey, it’s fiction, because in reality this would drive any sane woman crazy – need I say anymore? But the point here is that these faults don’t have to be earthshaking or world shattering to make an impression on your reader. Sometimes, just the regular old run-of-the-mill stuff tweaked a little, can soften a tough guy’s rough edges and endear him to your readers.
Riley
Well, according to my honey, it’s a powder he found in the spice cabinet that I use and mix with secret ingredients to create tartar sauce for fish. Um…WHAT? Honest to god, that’s what I heard him tell our son one afternoon when he came across it. Was I surprised? Nope, because he also told my daughter when she tried her hand at making scrambled eggs for the first time that he thought I put sugar in them. Sugar? That makes all kind of sense, doesn’t it?
I bring this up because I’ve just recently realized that his lack of culinary knowledge bleeds into my stories in a big way. I mean, the poor guy loves his food he just doesn’t know how to prepare it. Actually, he doesn’t care to know how to prepare it. That’s what gets me. Oh he’ll do the grilling, but for everything else? I’m on my own.
The way I see it? For the most part this works for us, the only real glitch is him imparting his limited knowledge to people who ask. Example: he had my sister convinced that I put Kahlua in my BBQ sauce. Kahlua? That was interesting. The day she made it she called me to say it tasted like something was missing. I asked her what she’d put in it so far and when I heard the ecclectic list of ingredients and who she’d gotten said list from I agreed with her – there was something missing. Like maybe one of her brain cells for listening to my honey in the first place.
When I asked him why he thought I put a liquor into the mix, he said, “Well, I know it was a dark brown liquid and from what I recall it was sweet.” He was right about that, unfortunately, it was molasses I’d used – not Kahlua. *shakes head*
Truthfully, I don’t know why I torture myself, but I had to press him on this. I wanted to know why he explains cooking things, items, or recipes when he knows absolutely nothing about them? His answer?
“People ask me.”
*Crickets.* I got nothing to say to that because he’s right.
And why is that? Why do they ask him this stuff instead of asking me? That got me to thinking. Sure, he is one of those guys who’d you want around if there was a major catastrophe, but asking him to prepare your Chicken Marsala? I don’t think so. No, seriously, I don’t.
So, right about now, you may be asking yourself how this relates to writing and alpha male and here’s the deal. Even the most capable, alpha-type guy around still has faults and doesn’t know everything. Usually? His biggest fault is that he doesn’t know he can’t do things. In fact, most times he believes that he can do everything. Making BBQ sauce for instance.
Now, when writing this type of guy in a romance the heroine will always gracefully point out where he’s erred. Yeah, I know, gracefully? Hey, it’s fiction, because in reality this would drive any sane woman crazy – need I say anymore? But the point here is that these faults don’t have to be earthshaking or world shattering to make an impression on your reader. Sometimes, just the regular old run-of-the-mill stuff tweaked a little, can soften a tough guy’s rough edges and endear him to your readers.
Riley
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