By Courtney Pierce
Superheroes are real, but in my books, they’re not swinging from
spiderwebs, crushing meteors in space, or using laser beams to control the
atmosphere. I leave those kinds of characters to authors who write Young Adult and Fantasy.
My heroes are everyday people who merely overcome adversity to
reach a goal. Sometimes the journey is peppered with a little magical realism
or unintentional humor, but the protagonist always crosses the finish line ahead
of the pack.
Earthly feats of heroism in others inspire us to be better
stewards of ourselves, such as learning how to love again after betrayal, self-sacrifice
to help others, beating a potentially fatal illness, or settling the score from
a past conflict. These may seem like pedestrian problems, but my characters can
be so obsessive-compulsive about overcoming them that they don’t always know
how far along in their journey they are.
In my first trilogy, Stitches, Brushes, and Riffs, a
baby boomer couple undertakes a worldwide quest to unlock the meaning of a
magical artifact. Every clue pushes them forward to the goal to learn the
secret to immortality. And when they unlock the truth, they can make a choice: do they
want to become immortal at the end of their mortal lives? It takes an
around-the-world adventureꟷwith the FBI in pursuitꟷto discover their internal truth.
In my second trilogy about the Dushane Sisters, The
Executrix, Indigo Lake, and Indigo Legacy, the story is a two-fold
quest: emotional closure of a husband’s hit-and-run murder and the truth about
a found manuscript for a familial murder mystery. My character of
Olivia Novack and her two middle-age sisters take a wild path to find answers that is both personal and often hilarious. But it's their sibling bond that makes all three of them superheroes. Yep. They'd step in front of traffic to save each other, and then bicker about which make of car was most lethal.
In my new book-in-process, Big Sky Talk, my hero has quite a bit to tackle when the sheriff comes knocking on her door. Judith Cenderon's moving boxes aren't even unpacked before her life becomes a collision of the past, present, and future. Add in a little magic of Salish Native-American folklore, things get supremely interesting when her dead dad comes calling in the form of a reincarnated bear.
Hero quests are fun to write. Their momentum keeps readers turning the pages. And I get to sprinkle in a few of my own truths into the prose, while my characters go through multiple hoops
to discover their own. But not all heroes are towers of impenetrable
strength. No matter the genre, the protagonists have a chink in the armor where
an arrow can get through to their heart. It can be a physical vulnerability,
such as blindness or chronic pain, or it can be an emotional trauma buried deep
in their psyche, such as the loss of a husband or child, a lover's betrayal, or conflicts
with familial relationships. A character’s bugaboos keep us rooting for the win, but we revel in their pain.
I love to push my heroes to accomplish feats they’d never
thought possible, both emotionally and physically. They dig deep for courage to face their fears or
react with instinct when pushed. Just when they want to curl up in a ball of
defeat, something happens to rise them to their feet. Without question, my heroes would step in
front of bullet to save a sister, lift a car to free an accident victim, or run
like the wind if their lives were on the line.
And that’s the keyꟷsurvival. Heroes value life above all else, both their own and the lives of the ones they love. Bad guys don’t stand
a chance with these amazing characters. For all their flaws, readers love our
heroes for what they can accomplish under duress. We want them on our side, by
our side, and their spirits filling our insides. They inspire us.
None of my protagonists are truly “super”heroes, though. They make a difference by never giving up, even if it means skirting the law by doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Recognition
isn’t their goal, but quests for adventure ring our heroes' chimes. Sometimes it’s
magical. Other times, it’s heartwarming and poignant.
Oh...and did I point our that all of my heroes are over the age of fifty? Whoever said that us older set can't save the day too? Yes, we are heroes by experience and wacky wisdom, but we might require at least a couple of bounds to scale the building and a double dose of BioFreeze the next morning.
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| Photo: Micah Brooks |
Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Kalispell, Montana with her husband, stepdaughter, and their brainiac cat, Princeton. Courtney writes for the baby boomer audience. She spent 28 years as an executive in the entertainment industry and used her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor, and mystery. She studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, Courtney is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and She Writes. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal.
windtreepress.com
Print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com.
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| Available Now! Book 3 of the Dushane Sisters Trilogy |
The Dushane Sisters Trilogy concludes with Indigo Legacy, available now. There's love in the air for Olivia and Woody, but will family intrigue get in the way? Ride along for the wild trip that starts in a New York auction house and peaks in a mansion on Boston's Beacon Hill.
The Dushane sisters finally get to the truth about their mother.
3 comments:
Courtney, I hear you on the double dose of Bio-freeze! Most, if not everyone I know, has had an overwhelming challenge to face at some point in their lives. To stay mentally and emotionally healthy (able to think positive thoughts and still love themselves and others) before, during and after the challenge isn't easy. And it is heroic if not super-heroic to keep moving forward toward the unknown future.
It is indeed heroic for ordinary people to overcome adversity, grief, etc. and move forward with their lives. Great post!
When I think back on the challenging events in my life (so far), I often wonder how I got through them with sound mind and body. We can handle so much more than we ever dreamed. And the great thing about getting older is that it all becomes relative. My stepdaughter screams disaster if her phone is out of juice. I turn and say, "What's the big deal? Try going two weeks without power after hurricane!"
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