There’s no question that the characters of my youth in literature, television and the movies helped me chart the course for how I’ve tried to live my life. They were the “good guys” and they stood up against evil, corruption, bullying and the like. They all wore white hats while the “bad guys” wore black ones. There’s also no question that life is rarely that simple. Many of those characters were more caricatures than representations of real-life people. In the late 60s, more and more protagonists in stories became “anti-heroes.” In many ways, they were more like us real-life humans who at times display what my friend, Jim Wilson, calls “feet of clay.” Unfortunately, our culture/society seemed to glamorize the “anti” part of the equation and along the way, I think we lost something. We lost our heroes. As a writer in the 21st century, I endeavor to find a balance with my protagonists. I want them to be a lot like the reader (and in my case, the writer)… imperfect, at times short-sighted, not always the person they aspire to be. In the end though, and usually with support and the occasional strong, swift kick in the rear from friends, they come around and do the right thing, standing up against evil, corruption and bullying. I think we need stories like that now more than ever. My first novel, Rustler’s Moon, is such a story and has recently been released by Speaking Volumes Press. I hope you’ll check it out. If you like it, there’s more to come as Speaking Volumes will be releasing each of my books in succession, with Colorado Moon coming up next. I hope you’ll also check out the many other authors whose works are published by Speaking Volumes Press. You can check them out here: http://www.speakingvolumes.us/
