Guest post & giveaway with author Corrina Lawson

Hey, everyone! Please join me in welcoming author Corrina Lawson to my blog today!

The Romance Guide To Superheroes

Superheroes aren’t thought of as a romance heavy genre. It’s true they rely a great deal on action and over-the-top plotting but, as in any good story, relationships play a huge role.

That includes romantic relationships as well. And superheroes make wonderful romance novel heroes and heroines.

The superhero relationship that is so famous it’s practically one word: Lois & Clark. Their romantic entanglement has been at the heart of the Superman story for decades. Sometimes it’s done poorly, as in many Silver Age stories about Lois scheming to expose Superman’s secret identity or in Superman Returns, which the actress cast as Lois neither captured her intelligence or her understanding of Superman. (To give the writer’s credit, they didn’t get Superman at all either. Superman as a deadbeat dad just does not work.)

Sometimes it’s done wonderfully, as in the 1980s comics when Lois and Clark finally tied the knot and many stories since. The marriage was inspired by television’s Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman in which the characters also finally were married but the comic book relationship has lasted far longer. And, in the final episode of Smallville, Lois and Clark again were married.

And, of course, there’s the wonderful “aww...” moment in the very first Superman movie when Lois falls from a helicopter and Superman catches her in mid-air and says “I’ve got you,” and Lois says “You’ve got me? Who’s got you?”

That’s probably my favorite scene from the whole movie and one I played homage to when I wrote Phoenix Rising, my superhero story due out from Samhain Publishing in November.  LINK: http://corrinalawson.wordpress.com/tag/phoenix-rising/

You don’t have to go back to DVDs, however, to find some fun superhero romance to inspire your writing. Recent movies have also included some wonderful romantic relationships. 

In Thor, when Jane Foster is entranced by the Thunder God walking around without his shirt, well, who can hardly blame her? The movie hits a lot of the usual romance points, even with a “meet cute” as Jane runs over Thor (he’s fine), to her believing in Thor despite all logic to the contrary, and to then Thor’s realization that Jane, though human, is more worthy than some Asgardians.

In fact, two women are prominent in Thor, setting up a fun romantic triangle for sequels. There’s Jane and Thor’s comrade in arms, the kick-ass Lady Sif. The cliffhanger ending of Thor is full of romance angst as Thor and Jane are separated, at least until the next movie. It’s also a movie full of fascinating relationships between all the supporting characters that romance readers will love, particularly Thor and his foster-brother, Loki.

Lesson: supporting characters can add tremendous depth to a story.

Another relationship, between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, is at the core of both Iron Man movies. Pepper is Tony’s touchstone, the one person who understands him. But, of course, he won’t allow her to get too close, until it’s brought home to him that he can lose her.

When Pepper reaches into the recesses of Tony’s artificial heart to help repair it in the first Iron Man, it’s an unusual scene but incredibly romantic and definitely another “aww..” moment.

I have high hopes for some similar “aww...” moments in the upcoming Captain America, and not just because I have a crush on the Star-Spangled Avenger. Hey, what’s not to like? Steve Rogers is powerful, he’s intelligent, he’s determined, and he’s blond and in incredibly good shape. He’s also probably the most decent and honorable hero in all of superhero comics. Without his powers, Steve would still be awesome.

From what I can tell from movie’s trailers, the relationship between Steve and spy Peggy Carter seems to be front and center. Cap’s best partners have always been powerful and smart woman like Peggy. No wallflowers or woman who sit an wait on the home front for Cap. He’s always been paired with woman who fight at his side.

Unfortunately, I should warn everyone that Peggy and Steve’s relationship will not last. In the comics, Cap is supposedly killed in an explosion of a rocket. He’s really frozen in ice for many years until modern superheroes find his body and thaw him out. When he wakes up, Peggy has already lived her life. Given the hints in all the other Marvel heroes movies, I suspect this is going to happen on film as well.

The current comic book Steve Rogers, however, has a long-running and currently steady relationship with SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter aka Agent 13. The pair have their difficulties, which include Steve being dead for a while and Sharon being mind-controlled to kill him, but they got past all that and you can find them in the pages of Secret Avengers. (For those interested in a wonderful and human superhero story, I cannot recommend Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America highly enough.)

I can’t say there’s much of a romance in X-Men: First Class but those of you who write or read male/male romance may find much of interest in the Magneto/Charles Xavier relationship. It’s all subtext but in the comics the subtext is so heavy that I sometimes want to tell the pair to get a room. And it’s their friendship that drives the movie.

In a world where psychics, vampires, shapeshifters, ancient Atlantean warriors, and witches abound, I think it’s time there are some stories that focus on superheroes.

Resolute and heroic men and women with incredible powers that lend themselves to some very interesting ideas for sex scenes. I made good use of telekinesis in Phoenix Rising and I’m writing a short story now in which the heroine is invisible, which gave a new twist to writing the sex scene.

Phoenix Rising is hopefully the first in a series of people who are not only gifted with powers but also heroes in the truest sense of the word. To me, that’s the largest appeal of superheroes. Not the battles or the costumes or the fun villans.

Or, as the tagline to Phoenix Rising states, “He was trained to be a weapon. She taught him to be a hero.”

Now if only Marvel or DC would call and ask me to write Batman or X-Men. 

About Corrina:


Corrina is former newspaper reporter with a degree in journalism from Boston University. She turned to writing fiction after her twins were born (they were kids three and four) to save her sanity. The twins are eleven now and she's written eight books, a blend of romance with various genres.

Corrina is currently an editor of GeekMom and a core contributor to its brother site, Geek Dad on Wired.com. She also writes for Sequential Tart, a webzine about comics and pop culture written solely by women. Often you can find her hanging out on comic book writer Gail Simone's forum on Jinxworld.

She has been a finalist in the national Golden Heart contest sponsored by the Romance Writers of America and is the winner of several regional RWA contests.

Her newest book, Phoenix Rising, is due out in November from Samhain Publishing. Her novella, Freya’s Gift is currently available from Samhain Publishing. Her first published book, Dinah of Seneca, an alternate history romance, is currently available from The Wild Rose Press. She's also had an essay published in Chicken Soup for the Soul-Thanks Mom! 


You can find her website at www.corrinalawson.wordpress.com, she is on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/corrina.lawson, and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/CorrinaLawson.

Giveaway details:


Corrina is giving away a $10 Amazon GC, woot!

Giveaway rules:

• You must be a follower of this blog
• If you're not following Corrina, you should!
• You must leave a comment with an email addy you can be reached at should you win

This giveaway will be open the entire month of July. Make sure to leave a comment and spread the word!