wrapping it up-- or not

 

Many times I have written-- fiction books are always fiction. I know how much readers want to think otherwise about the great literary works-- ah so true to life. Except they are fiction made to convince readers they are true to life.

Recently I've written about romantic heroes-- realistic and otherwise. It seemed an apropos time to discuss how real life actually works out-- from a non-fiction book which attracted my interest for a lot of reasons. 

Its story is not how we want to think life happens. It's definitely not how it would in a romance or mystery, but it is what actually happens when murderers do sometimes get away with it and investigations are not tidily wrapped up by the last chapter. 

Caught in the Cross-hairs  by Rick Steber

In 1994, I remember reading in the newspapers when this cowboy was shot. It seemed unexplainable then and the details were sketchy as to what even happened. The first article that I read indicated he was shot off his horse. Very cowboy like but not what happened.

The country in which the murder happened is a region where I have spent a lot of time. The writer does a good job of personalizing what happened and bringing forth anecdotes that make you feel you understand better not only the events but the nature of the people.

When we read of something like this, a young man cut down in the prime of life, deliberately murdered, it is upsetting. It's not how it's supposed to be. Then the uneasiness doubles down when the one who did it got away with it-- at least as far as the legal system is concerned. 

from 2004 -- an unsolved killing still haunts town-- NYTimes

Tidy, rewarding endings too often do not belong to real life. And heroes don't always survive. We see that time and again. If I am going to take the time though to read about this kind of event and investigation, I want it to be in a book clearly labeled non-fiction. 

Rick Steber's determined research led to an interesting story about that part of Oregon, many character studies of those who could have held the gun that day, and of what can go wrong in an investigation. 

There were even psychics to add to the mix. When the only living witnesses are the killer, a horse and dog, psychics are a place some turn for answers. We always want answers, but this book won't give it to us. It will just tell us what can be known, and you can do your own deciding what did happen when one individual sighted down a rifle and deliberately killed another human being. Of all the possible explanations, the one I don't remotely believe is it was an accident. It was deliberate murder, but the question of why may never be answered.

The story was another reminder of why I enjoy writing romances. I get enough of these kind of tragedies in the newspaper and non-fiction. It isn't that I don't want to know they happen. It's just I like having a break from it to a world where it will work out-- even if it takes awhile.

inspiration and the real deal

 

 Canstock image and I have no idea if this guy is a professional model,

 but I used his image for Judd in the trailer for 'Second Chance'

We all know that real-life heroes don't come in neat packages. They aren't all handsome, tall, muscular or whatever. But in books and movies, heroes often do come in those kind of packages-- which is part of why people often don't recognize serial killers as they shouldn't be good looking except they sometimes are. 

When I wrote my books, I had descriptions but didn't try to visualize the heroes or heroines. They were rather dreamlike in my mind. It wasn't until I got to the point of needing covers that I began to think-- wow, exactly what do they look like.

Now when I ePublish one of my romances, I use on the cover what romance readers expect. Some are professional models others just guys/gals who everyone has told they are good looking and could make some money. Sometimes you can tell which is which and sometimes not.

Using a model to depict a hero isn't a problem to me because I find men irresistible in all kinds of shapes and sizes. You tell me about any romance writer who doesn't, and I'll be surprised. Chick lit writers not necessarily but romance writers-- they all like men and you can tell from their books.

When I saw the link below on the Carhartt 2012 catalog, (my daughter-in-law is where I heard of it), I thought-- it was funny but also the real deal where it comes to guys who work hard and live a rugged outdoor life (hey I am married to one of them and he likes Carhartt because it holds up). 

Anyway just to go along with that earlier post-- inspiration... here's more with some humor. If you go there, be sure you go beyond the pictures and read the text. Not only funny but it's also true... to a point anyway. Isn't that enough?

The Carhartt man

grabbing reader interest

When looking for a video, what should I have stumbled across but the following. It's about a Harlequin (big romance publishing line) photo shoot. It's how they did it and emphasizes how important covers are to selling a book even when it's from a name author and big publishing house with reputations all of their own.

One thing about covers is they have to fit the genre. When you write a particular type of book, you need to look at books in that genre. If you are not a writer with a lot of money or big publishing house behind you, you do the creating on a budget, but you recognize that what you see on the shelves is what you are competing against for reader attention. 

I think the writer with less money can learn from this kind of shoot-- even if their son who is equally handsome won't pose for them... no sour grapes at all... none... well maybe a little ;).