Last night I joined a friend for the first of a four-part class on “The Power of Now,” a book by Eckhart Tolle, author of “The Good Earth.”  In a nutshell (and keep in mind I haven’t read the book), the class is about striving to be present and in the moment as much as possible, which means letting go of past and future worries, and concentrating on simply achieving peace (albeit a peace and joy that is not characterized by positive or negative emotion, but simply “is”).  To tell you the truth, I had a hard time with these concepts.  To me, any joy a person feels is always relative to the negative feelings they’ve experienced.  In addition, I don’t feel true peace or joy is ever sustainable because any human knows that it is transitory. 

In any event, it got me to thinking about what makes heroes in fiction so appealing, and to me one of the biggest things is that heroes are affected by both past and future events.  Usually they have suffered to a certain degree, but despite this they have a dream of the future (even if this dream is buried so deep they don’t even acknowledge it to themselves). 

Heroes are shaped by their past because it is what made them who they are today and, inescapably, it is what motivates their actions as they try to achieve their future goals.  Because I usually write about how a hero’s tortured past motivates him, I wanted to give a much more light-hearted example of how a hero’s past, even in a small snippet, can intrigue us and make us feel that much closer to him.

In Shannon McKenna’s Melt Down, Michael MacNamara is as macho as they come, but when the heroine teases him about being like her fairy godmother, he replies, “Oh great,” he said sourly.  “What a turn on.  Bippity boppity boo.”  To the amused heroine, he reveals that he raised his sister and that he “knows his Disney.”

To me, this small insight into the hero’s past reveals so much about who he is and he’s more than the macho, alpha, highly-sexed hero we’ve seen so far.  So while I definitely think being in the moment and achieving peace is a worthy goal, I also feel you achieve that moment by accepting and embracing all that has happened and can happen in your life.  In the end, it’s all good—if only because you have gotten past it and continue to dream of better.

QUESTION: FORGET THE PAST OR EMBRACE IT? 

I’m not a big drinker, but I remember the days when drinking a single margarita could make me a little tipsy—just enough that I was a little braver and adventurous than normal, but not so much that I’d lose site of what was inappropriate and cross the line.  I no longer can access this lovely state with one drink—I have to drink several to get to it and it doesn’t last long at all.  And since I don’t particularly like the taste of alcohol, I never get there.

In Lori Foster’s book, Too Much Temptation, the heroine Grace Jenkins has little experience with men and she’s been in love with Noah Harper for years.  When Noah breaks his engagement with his less-than honorable fiancée and Grace comes to check on him, she finds Noah and his brother Ben well into a case of alcohol.  Partly because of the alcohol and partly because he can no longer hold back, Noah lets Grace know he’s wanted her for a long time, too—luscious curves and all.  The next morning, Grace thinks that it was just the alcohol talking, and Noah has to work a little to convince her that the alcohol just made it easier for him to say what he’d wanted too all along. 

Given the addictive qualities of alcohol and the problems society suffers because of it, I think relying on alcohol as a literary device has to be handled with care.  But let’s face it, just like in real life, a little alcohol can aid an author tremendously when it comes to breaking down a character’s inhibitions and giving him/her the courage to be a different person.  Inevitably, however, the characters have to face the world sober and it’s their actions at this time that will make us cheer them on or roll our eyes.  

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  How do you feel about characters who need a little alcohol to be brave? Does this make them less likable or heroic for you?  Or does it make them seem just human enough to relate to?

Lately I’ve been thinking that the hardest thing about writing isn’t so much the writing (although there are definitely days, even weeks that I want to throw my computer against the wall because nothing is coming to me) but about the people I’m surrounding myself with.  I’m really sensitive to the actions and feelings of everyone around me and sometimes this can be energizing.  Sometimes it can be draining and downright depressing.  I hold myself and others to a very high standard.  I guess I do the same for my characters, too. 

I would have thought this could be an edge in writing my heroes because I am very conscious of every move they are making and every word they are saying.  But then again, sometimes I hold back, just as I would in real life, because I am waiting for the perfect action or piece of dialogue to get down on paper.  When really, I would probably discover so much about my characters if I just let them be HUMAN.  Still, in my mind, there are basic common courtesies and codes of behavior that have to be maintained in life and fiction.  Sometimes writing is like trying to teach your kids to behave a certain way but not having much success.    

Even if I’m around great people, numbers can overwhelm me.  This month I’m planning to go to the RWA National Convention.  It should be fun, but I also know the time will come (at least once a day) when I’ll need to go in my room by myself and just be alone. 

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY: Would going to a convention with 2,000 writers inspire or drain you?  Who are your favorite people to be around?  

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about whether the goal of getting published is something people want in and of itself or in order to validate themselves.

To validate oneself is to declare or make something legally valid.

To many people, getting published makes one’s writing valid. It is a marker of accomplishment and talent.

Unfortunately, one of the harder lessons writers learn is that while you often need talent to become published, having talent doesn’t insure publication.

As a result, writers who are indeed talented will spend their careers being miserable because they are focused on trying to validate something that already exists.

In the end, validation can only come from a secure self-knowledge in your own worth, regardless of what others think of you.

Or am I wrong?

After all, even the “hero” label is a public validation of a man’s worth and accomplishment in society. I think the true hero is someone who acts heroic, even when he doesn’t think of himself as a hero and no one else does either.

He acts despite lack of validation by others or even himself.

No one said being a hero is easy, and in fact many people view being heroic as something that comes with a heavy price tag.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: People can swallow the idea of a tortured hero because the hero’s actions will ultimately result in some greater good to society. Is being an artist/writer and constantly doubting oneself unavoidable? Do you believe that true writers are people who would write whether anyone read their work or not?