Heroes- Part II

Growing up in New Joisey I had my own ideas of what heroes were. Are.
I became a cop for that reason. How cool would it be to swoop in and help the helpless, save the weak, catch the bad guys. I soon learned that that was an ideal childhood version of what men (or women) in blue did. I found out we were part hero, part villain, part gun-nut, part egomaniac, part nursemaid...you get the idea. Cops are a little bit of everything. But- no matter how long I am out of uniform, I will always feel a close bond for police officers all over the world. I know the job they do. I've walked in their shoes, (or my shoes, actually) and can say -been there-done that.

As a writer I know certain jobs have major sex appeal. After all, the new hero is a cowboy. Or was that last week? Maybe it's a blood-sucking vamp or a wolf shape-shifter. Lord knows a good writer can make any creature sexy...or can we?

I've thought about every profession for my characters; doctors, lawyers, strippers, agents and their models and actor clients, rich playboys, stock brokers...well, the list goes on and on. But what attributes make an attractive hero in a novel? I don't know of anyone putting a hot dentist on their cover, or perhaps a tailor? Maybe an unemployed street person?
Yes...well, can't anyone be a hero? Sure they could.
New heroes appear in novels all the time. The soft spoken accountant, the college administrator, read my novels. There they are. Do they jump into burning buildings to rescue babies? My firemen do, but my other heroes? No. Move faster than a speeding bullet? Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?
They don't have to.
What makes a man a hero in a GA Hauser novel?
Many things. They can be just wonderful sweet souls, honest, caring, hard workers... or maybe they have compassion for people who need support. They are the strong back for their lovers and friends when they fail.
It's the stuff men are made of inside. Any hero can be flawed. Each comic strip caped crusader has something to hide, right? Otherwise, why the mask? Hmm...hey super-hero, what's behind that tight costume and hood of yours? (In my novels you get to find out!)
Heroes in future Hauser novels can be lineman for power companies, psychiatrists who are devoted to their patients, men who work as paper pushers, computer geeks, carpenters, mechanics...
A real hero is someone who cares about others. Is kind. Loving. Empathetic to people's pain.
You don't need a cape to be a hero. You just need a heart.

Be safe out there.