Love and Death and Hope

by Janis Patterson

It seems we live our lives by holiday seasons – Christmas, New Years, Valentines, Easter, Memorial Day… you see what I mean. And it seems that each holiday season crimes go up. Murders increase. Family member turns on family member. What is it about a time that should be all about joy and celebration that turns people murderous?

Perhaps we have too many expectations. Christmas especially for most of us doesn’t live up to the perfect holiday implied by saccharine TV shows and too-perfect-to-be-real Christmas cards. Unfortunately, most families don’t wear their Sunday best to stand around a huge, professionally decorated tree and sing carols, but in spite of this a lot of us wonder why our family isn’t like this.

Valentine’s is no different, though on the whole less emotionally charged. Some people don’t care about the romantic side of life. Some have given up on it. Some have their patterns set with their loved one, and don’t need the traditional frills and furbelows of Traditional Romance. Some of us do, though. We want the candy and the cards and the heartfelt sighs of Everlasting Love – at least for the moment. Jewelry and trips and all the rest would be nice, too, but it’s the emotions that really count. The romantics who can celebrate it and the lonely ones who have no one to celebrate it with (and I have been both) have expectations, expectations reality can never really live up to.

And that’s where the death part comes in. Humans are governed by primal drives. Yes, we have created a veneer of civilization that keeps us from running amok like a two-year-old denied a treat when we are disappointed or fail to get something we want, but that veneer is sometimes terrifyingly thin and fragile. Who hasn’t heard of a spurned lover wreaking vengeance for being rejected? This unhappy circumstance isn’t endemic only to Valentine’s Day, of course – it happens all year round, yet so many instances of sad and/or vicious repercussions of love-deprivation do occur close to the holiday. And yes, to all holidays.

Holidays build up our expectations to an expanded degree, which makes the fact lots of our dreams don’t come true that much more difficult to bear. It’s hard to keep an even keel when everyone but you seems to be wrapped in perfection.

And for that we must be held partially responsible. We as writers are the myth-makers. It is from our pens that the archetypes flow. Should we change our stories so that our characters have no hope, that their lives are as glum and free from redemption as the most tortured of real life persons? I most sincerely hope not. As writers we owe the public good stories, but I think that we also owe our readers at least a glimmering of hope – hope, not necessarily expectations. Not everyone in life gets a happy ending, and not every character gets a happy ending, but I think they should at least have the hope of a happy ending – whatever that happens to mean to them. Yes, for a love-deprived serial killer that hope might be the extermination of his next victim – something that should not happen, especially in real life – but to be a well-rounded character he needs hope, however twisted his vision of that might be.

Do I believe every character deserves a hearts-and-flowers-rainbows-and-unicorns happy ending? No. That kind of universal joy neatly tied with a string belongs in fairy tales. But neither do I believe in total doom and gloom and no ray of sunshine ever. Perhaps our characters don’t get what they want, but like humans, they deserve at least the hope of it. In other words, a story shouldn’t end when the pages run out. We go on spurred by hope, and our characters should too, even if the book is finished. Hope is what makes us – and our characters – truly live.

There's Always Hope

http://music.yahoo.com/photos/luke-bryan-accepts-award-entertainer-48th-annual-academy-photo-080404935.html

It's no secret that I'm a country and western fan. There's something about the music and words that strike a chord in me. Country seems so real. I much prefer listening to a country tune over rock, heavy metal, hip hop or rap.

I also enjoy watching their award shows. Last night was the ACMs - Academy of Country Music Awards. In an award show, anything can happen. I figured Blake Shelton or his wife, Miranda Lambert, might possibly win the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award instead of  the multi-winner, Taylor Swift. Since I've always love Blake's and Miranda's songs, I was prepared to be happy if either of them won.

What I didn't expect was that Luke Bryan, a relative newcomer, would come from behind and win Entertainer of the Year! Since I always bet on underdogs when I go to the racetrack, I was thrilled! I didn't think he had a chance; yet, with the help of the fans, he pulled off what seemed the impossible.

Even better, the guy was truly humble and grateful. I like that in an entertainer. This morning, someone on the radio said Luke started out playing from the back of his truck at Solder's Field in Chicago. Somehow his tunes and talent won over country fans, and what a success story!

What does this have to do with books? Well, it goes to show there's always hope. If you try hard enough and do the best you can, your dream might come true. That dream might be to complete a book, or to publish a book, to get a contract, or, even the lofty goal of having a bestseller!

Whatever yours is, remember, there's always hope!

An open letter to President-elect Obama from Mark Troy

Dear President-elect Obama,

Congratulations on your victory. While most people wait for your list of appointments to various cabinet and government posts, some of us are waiting for your presidential reading list. What books you will be reading while in the White House?


Presidential reading lists tend to be heavy on history, philosophy and biographies of famous people, fitting subjects for the president of the United States. But not all presidential choices need to have such gravitas. What do you read on the long flights aboard Air Force One? What books will be in the seat pouch?

President Kennedy was a huge fan of Ian Fleming. His list of favorite books included From Russia With Love. Did it in influence the policies of the leader of the free world at the height of the Cold War? I don’t think anyone knows, but it did spark a reading frenzy in my circle of friends. So you see, Mr. President, your choice of reading matter has power.

President Clinton made a point of reading for enjoyment at least thirty minutes every day, a good habit for any president to encourage. A self-proclaimed mystery addict, his favorite authors were Walter Mosley, Sue Grafton, and Jonathon Kellerman. All of them, great choices.

Mysteries are the most contemporary of genre fiction. They tend, more than any other genre, to reflect the attitudes and mores of the times in which they were written. If you want insights into attitudes of Americans, it would be worth your while to acquaint yourself with some mysteries.

If you are a mystery fan, Mr. Obama, you undoubtedly have your own favorites, but if you are not, I would like to suggest a few that I think you would like.

Washington D.C. is a city you won’t learn about from the windows in the oval office, nor from the people around you, most of whom don’t live in D.C. For that, I recommend Hard Revolution by George Pelecanos. Pelecanos has been called the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world. Hard Revolution tells the story of two D.C. cops struggling to do their jobs in a city short on hope. Derek Strange is a young black cop trying to hold his family together and protect his older brother from the bottom-feeders he hangs with. Frank Vaughan is an older white cop investigating the vicious hit and run of a young black man. Their paths collide on the eve of the assassination of Martin Luther King, an event that set off a chain of events that left Washington D.C. burned, divided, and the dreams of many thousands of people destroyed. I don’t need to say that you represent the revitalization of those dreams

Mystic River, Dennis Lehane’s tour de force, is set in a neighborhood of Boston, a city you may have gotten to know while at Harvard. The novel is about a community and how the lives of the people are shaped by their surroundings. This is not one of the communities you
organized in Chicago, but the people are probably not unlike the people you worked with. Jimmy Marcus is a small business owner, a family man, and an ex-con. When his daughter is murdered, he sets out to solve the crime and administer his own justice. On the way, he becomes a community organizer in his own right. It’s not the path you took, Mr. President, and Jimmy Marcus would never make it to the White House, but his story belongs there for its honesty and emotion.

As president, you will have responsibility for the Department of Justice and the FBI so here’s a twofer for you. The Poet and its sequel, The Narrows by Michael Connelly introduce FBI agent Rachel Walling in pursuit of a serial killer. Walling is one of the best women crime-solvers in a crowded field. She is courageous, competent, smart and sexy. Memo to President: The FBI should be staffed with agents like her. Maybe even director? After The Poet, we had to wait a long time for her return in The Narrows, but it was worth it.
This time she teams up with the inimitable Harry Bosch, LAPD’s maverick detective, now working as a private eye. Don’t be put off by the “maverick” label. Bosch is competent, though he doesn’t always follow the rules, a trait that puts him in conflict with Walling.

The list would not be complete without a mystery set in the state of your birth, Hawaii. Delicious by Mark Haskell Smith gives you the Hawaii that the Visitor’s Bureau hopes you don’t see.
This is not the seven-day, six-night, mai-tais at sunset trip to paradise. This is a dark, uproarious, over-sexed romp. Smith has the comic sensibilities of Carl Hiaasen and the weird world-view of Joe Lansdale. Delicious tells the story of a young Hawaiian chef, Joseph, whose family business comes under attack from a Las Vegas catering company that tries to muscle into it. Joseph’s father considers this an invasion equaled only by that of Captain Cook and this time the outsiders must be stopped at all costs. This is a laugh out loud book. You will wake up everybody else on Air Force One when you read it.

These are my suggestions, Mr. President, but there are many more, equally good books in the genre. I’m sure that readers of this blog will have their own suggestions for you and I hope they contribute them here.

Happy reading.