MY KIND OF HEROES
Nowadays too often I finish a book or walk out after watching a movie experiencing emptiness, unsatisfaction and even sadness.
What do we expect in exchange for our effort of purchasing and reading a book, or watching a movie? We don’t just want to be transported to a different world. We want to experience something we deeply need to go on in our life: the heroic. Such is the purpose of art: to give us a taste of what it feels like to be a hero and to inspire us to strive for it.
Heroes don’t necessarily have to wear capes, but can be regular people who go beyond the call of duty and perform one time heroic acts, despite their fears.
A rare example today is Reacher, Lee Child’s hero. Reacher is a “monolithic” hero without superpowers. He also starts as a regular person, but his courage, his integrity, and his unwavering commitment to justice make him a hero. In a world where most authors write about antiheroes, I’m hooked by Reacher, who always fights for justice and in defense of the oppressed. In the end, I always feel fulfilled and recharged, ready to face my own every day battles with the same integrity and commitment Reacher has when he faces his own enemies.
When I decided to become a writer, I made a few silent promises to my future readers.
I will work my hardest, so that the reader can exit the rollercoaster of my books feeling uplifted, confident that the good can still triumph, that the gutter doesn’t have to be the standard in our lives, that success is possible even in the face of the greatest obstacles, if we put forward hard work and passionate commitment.
Moreover, in my books our country is still great. The American Dream is still real. The police and our soldiers still deserve our respect and gratitude for risking their lives to keep us safe.
But most of all, my books will have a satisfying conclusion.
It’s the least I can do in exchange for the reader’s good faith and time commitment.
Meet the heroes in DISSECTION
