NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

HEROISM: NO SUPER POWERS REQUIRED



As an author I like to write about ‘ordinary’ people who rush into hell to find justice.  When confronted by the unimaginable, they fight to survive and prevail.

My focus on the people with non-super powers might be strange considering the fact that as a kid I watched a steady diet of all the super hero cartoons from Mighty Mouse to Superman to the Justice League.  Characters whipped out their super powers to save the world.

Yet my first and always heroes were my parents.  Every day Dad went to work at a tough, difficult job he didn’t like to provide for his family.  Mom sacrificed so her daughters could have more than she did as a Depression-era child.  They weren’t the flashy heroes of the ‘extraordinary’ powers or moment;  to me they were heroic for meeting life’s obligations with resilience every day of their lives.

 From a police officer racing to burning car to rescue a trapped driver to the divorced mother tired from working a thankless job but stays up late to help her daughter complete a school project, I take heart in both those heroic efforts that make the news and those I have the privilege of observing.  See that utility tech working tirelessly on downed lines in an area devastated by disasters? Hero.  Those teams of Red Cross or American Humane Society heading into the eye of the storm to help victims?  Major heroes.    

While many may argue super model/business woman Heidi Klum is far from being ordinary, this past weekend she was just a mother on a holiday with her family.  When a riptide threatened her son, she rushed into the water without hesitation to pull him to safety.  Then she went into danger again to rescue the nanny.   The look of fear and determination on her face would resonate with any parent with a child in danger.  I know her courage and actions will work their way eventually into a character.  For now, she’s added to my ‘hero’ list. 

Do you have a favorite act of heroism you saw or read about?

J Carol Stephenson
Escape to Compelling, Heart-Racing Stories
HER DARK PROTECTOR, 2013 EPIC finalist
Website; Facebook; Twitter; Amazon Author Page

 
 

 

6 comments:

Elise Warner said...

My parents who struggled through hard times and encouraged me when I wanted to become a singer. I wish they were around to share my joy in writing. And the heroic actions of the police,fire dept. and citizens who did everything they could to help the victims of 9/11.

Anne Marie Becker said...

Oh, heroes! My favorite topic. :) I love thinking about the everyday heroes...the ones who give up their seat for a pregnant woman or pick up groceries for the homebound. Any little act of kindness (especially when it's random). It restores my faith in people.

Marcelle Dubé said...

Love the topic, Carol. And yes, my favourite heroes are the ordinary women and men who step up when needed, without fuss, because they are needed.

Jean Harrington said...

Wonderful, Carol. The Heidi Klum story is very relevant and poignant.
Good for her, and good for you for making us all so aware of heroes in our midst.

Carol Stephenson said...

The images of 9/11 rescue workers will be with me always, Elise.

Anne Marie, when I saw that story about an officer buying shoes for a homeless man, my heart melted.

Thanks Marcelle and Jean!!!

J Wachowski said...

I have a couple of friends who have dealt with chronic health problems. I can't imagine handling it with as much courage and grace (&lack of whining) as they showed. It's haunting and inspiring....

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