Ten Heroic Qualities

I've been thinking about what a hero should be since I read Karen Ball's July 24th blog post on Charis Connection.

I thought about ten of my favorite heroes from movies of 1969 to 2005. The heroes share at least three of my ten favorite qualities that a man should experience.

James Garner's character in Support Your Local Sherriff isn't particularly romantic, but he is quite patient, creative, and smart. A hero doesn't have to be an expert on romance, but he does have to exhibit leadership qualities.

Cary Elwes as Westley in Princess Bride was driven, brave, and caring. He didn't walk around claiming to be a hero, but he was one.

Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day had no choice but to make changes in his day. In the middle of the story he was driven, but later he was caring and friendly.

In 1995, two movies came out that had very different heroes. But I like both. Bill Pullman's character in While You Were Sleeping was friendly, patient, and driven. Harrison Ford's character in Sabrina was flexible, then caring, then desperate.

Val Kilmer's character in The Saint was creative, brave, and caring. One of the most romantic things about the movie was him remembering her medicine. What was important to her had become important to him.

Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail gave a good example of a friendly, patient and creative hero.

Hugh Grant's character in Notting Hill was friendly and caring, then driven.

Nicholas Cage's character in The Family man was smart, flexible, and desperate.

And last, my favorite movie of 2005: Hitch. Will Smith's character was smart, creative, and vulnerable. He was also desperate at the end. I loved the fun ending.

Each of these heroes is unique, yet displays at least three of my favorite ten heroic qualities.

In my opinion, a hero must be:

brave enough to face the danger,
creative enough to solve the conflicts that arise,
driven enough to keep going against all odds,
patient enough to keep his cool,
friendly enough to attract the heroine,
vulnerable enough to allow his human side to be seen,
flexible enough to change direction when necessary,
caring enough to think of the little important things,
smart enough to make good decisions,
and desperate enough to do anything to get the girl.

MacGregor Interview at Novel Journey

I am highly interested in the interview at Novel Journey this week with Jerry Chip MacGregor, Associate Publisher with Hachette Book Group USA (formerly Time Warner Book Group).

Gina Holmes has an impressive list of author interviews on her Novel Journey site. Chip MacGregor's three-day interview began on Monday. Warning: read at your own risk. The interview is not for the faint of heart, the self-righteous, the legalistic, or truth-haters.

Personally, I find Chip to be a refreshingly honest voice and a welcome opinion regarding Christian fiction. There's no hiding behind what "should" be said. He says what he thinks.

I've been priveleged to listen to him speak at writers' conferences. His industry updates are valuable for me. And I get to see that he's human just like the rest of us.

Join me and the rest of the crowd at Novel Journey for Chip's riveting interview.

What are you waiting for? Go.

Getting To Know God

I keep learning new things about God. He's so amazing!

God has so many facets. He is so many things to us. If we only know Him as Savior, we should keep seeking Him. Keep praying. Keep waiting for more revelation.

Let Him reveal Himself to you. Keep listening for His guidance. He may pull you into prayer late at night or wake you up early. Be ready to receive what He wants to share.

Get to know Him as Provider and Protector. Let Him show you how much He cares. Obey His nudges. Heed His call. Forget aout the nervous screaming world we live in. Love others in His calm love. If He's not worried, we shouldn't be.

Scenes and Beans

...and we have lift-off. All systems are "Go". The Scenes and Beans blog started its orbit through cyberspace today. This character blog has blasted onto monitors large and small and will be drawing devoted readers by the thousands. Don't be left out of the excitement.

Scenes and Beans will tell the story of the citizens of Kanner Lake. Violet Dawn is the first book of the Kanner Lake series by Brandilyn Collins. No doubt anyone who has read a Brandilyn Collins suspense novel will rush out for a copy of Violet Dawn as soon as it hits the stores.

I've read it so I know it's good. You can read the first twelve chapters early by checking out the Kanner Lake site.

I've also been invited to be a part of the Scenes and Beans blog. That's right! I'm writing blog posts for Sarah Wray, the character who hires the heroine.

July Fourth

Tomorrow is the big day!

We usually celebrate independence by gorging ourselves with food and then igniting explosives.

We'll be playing horse shoes and croquet. And maybe bring out the vacation photos. Maybe.

But one thing I'm sure I'll be doing is making the Scenes and Beans announcement.

What announcement, you ask?

I've been selected as one of the writers of the Kanner Lake series character blog - Scenes and Beans. Wow! I'm so excited.

I'll be telling my family to read the blog and let me know what they think. You can too!