Gone!

YAY - after almost two weeks of stewing on one of my ideas, I've finally sent my two proposals off to the editor! Here's hoping she's sees potential in at least one of them... 

WHYs and Archetypes...

I've been to visit the mother-in-law six hours away for the long weekend and didn't have much chance to work on my proposals, but (as you writers will understand) the story was always stewing. 

I've finished one of the proposals I plan to send to Lucy and I'm working on the second. I'm fairly happy with Martha, my party-girl heroine who's had to curb her wild ways because she's now guardian of her teenage sister, but her hero is causing me to tear out my hair!!!

As I've come to do for the last few books... I gleaned a general idea of his character (from who knows where) and then grabbed my old faithful archtype book. Anyone else use ''The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines''? I find this book helps me solidify in my head who my character is and often gives me ideas about their personality or background I hadn't even thought of. 

My heroine Martha is a ''Spunky Kid.'' In short, she's gutsy and true and loyal to the end. She has a fabulous sense of humour, can be slightly sarcastic and doesn't think the world owes her a living.

I've matched her with Sebastian, a ''Professor.'' He's not actually a professor - at this stage, he's a plastic surgeon (but I'm not sure this is MH enough) - but he has qualities of a ''Professor.'' This means he's cooly analytical. He's usually the smartest person in the room and the authority in his field (surely that's alpha), he's organised and a slave to logic. And... the big thing ''an allure of chaos can be strong for this man.'' I'm hoping Martha will bring lots of chaos into his life.

My problem is WHY?!!! WHY is Sebastian tied to his work, so much so that he doesn't allow himself a social life? And what does he want out of life? Initially I had both of them not in the market for marriage or even a serious relationship at the moment, but I'm not sure this works.

She wants to live life to the full and tick everything off her TO DO LIST before she settles down (cos she's had to be MS Responsibility for the last few years looking after her sister). I'm thinking perhaps it would then be better if he's actually quite keen on the idea of marriage from the beginning but is having problems finding Miss Right... But then that doesn't tie in with him not allowing himself a social life, which I DO need for the premise of the book to work!! 

Oh hell...what do you wise ladies think??  I for one am tying myself in knots with all this planning!!