158 million dollars. 

That’s how much Duncan, Nora Roberts’s hero in High Noon, won in the lottery years before he met Savannah negotiator Phoebe MacNamara.  (If I’m off by a few million, forgive me.  I’m “reading” this one on audiobook!)  

Although Phoebe lives in a gorgeous mansion with her agoraphobic mother, seven-year-old little girl, and their good friend, she’s by no means well off.  The mansion was a “gift” by a wealthy relative whose sole intent in passing it to Phoebe was spite.   She can’t afford a new car.  Her mother makes handmade heirlooms to help out with the bills.  But on their first date (which Phoebe refuses to acknowledge is a date) Duncan calmly informs her that he’s a multi, multi, multi millionaire.  He drives a white Porsche, lives in a beautiful mansion himself, and spends his days finding new investments for his money.  While his revelation of wealth certainly takes Phoebe aback, it doesn’t scare her away. Duncan is clearly not one to throw his money around or act like he’s better than others.  In fact, he uses his money to help those he loves and he never forgets the friends he had when he was just driving a cab.

 158 Million dollars. 

 Why do you think Nora picked such a huge number?  Wouldn’t 8 million have made an impression?  Wouldn’t 1 million have? 

 My theory?  Maybe it had to be a huge number in order to show just how unspoiled and good-hearted Duncan (and Phoebe) is!  Hard to believe that 158 Million dollars can be so casually brought up and, not dismissed, but set to the side.  But like all Nora’s novels, nothing is more important than the love (and in this case, some awesome suspense).  The 158 Million seems less important than the idea that love, in such a sexy and kind package as Duncan, really exists.  Duncan doesn’t care that Phoebe’s life is “complicated” (and boy, is it ever).  She “sticks” in his mind from the moment they meet, and as Phoebe later recognizes, Duncan is the kind of man that “sticks,” complications or not.  

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  Has money (the having of it or the not) been an “issue” in any of your relationships, platonic or otherwise? 

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?