When should the hero walk through the door?

There was a discussion on an e-loop some time ago that I'm apart of, debating when a hero should make an appearance in a story. Hmmm. Good question.

For me, because I write single title, my hero sometimes doesn't show up for two or three chapters. And contemporary writer friends have mentioned, for their market, the hero needs to be there from the get go.

Now, this is all very well, but I read a book some weeks back, (a medieval romance) and it had me confused. Very confused.

The hero, and I'm not exaggerating, appeared for the first time on page 231 (chapter ten!) after the heroine had already married twice and both husbands had died.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the book and finished it, but the second husband seemed really nice and I could see the relationship (if the author allowed) could blossom into a romance of the greatest kind. But oh no dear reader. Don't get too comfortable with him, the author thought.

And I started to wonder if this would happen again? Well, I actually prayed it wouldn't. I mean, how many men were we going to get to know in this book? Would the bride out-live this husband too?  :o And to top it all off, the man she does love and 'IS' the hero, is very unlikable. And of course by this time, being near the end of the book, he didn't have very long to redeem himself. ARGH

It was all very confusing and I'm still (obviously I'm writing about it) confused by the novel.

So, when do your hero's enter the stories you write. From the get go? Or chapter ten? Or, for the readers out there, when do you like to see the hero appear in the books you buy? For me, I don't mind holding out a chapter or two, any more than that and I start to get impatient.

Happy reading and writing everyone.
Tamara

Note: This post first appeared Oct 2010 @ http://tamaragill.blogspot.com