ALL KINDS OF COURAGE

Have you ever wondered what it takes to be called courageous? Is it simply charging into the face of danger against all odds? Not in my book. It is the strength to face the odds whatever they are, and that doesn't only mean the hand-to-hand combat that thrills us in books and movies.

In Devil's Dance and The Devil's Due, Jen Connor must find her inner strength to go on after life has dealt her some cruel blows. She's a teenager who grew up as part of what I call the "obedient generation"--those kids of the 40s and 50s who didn't make waves, pretty much did what they were told and accepted authority without question most of the time.

It took courage for her to find her inner self and realize that although broken in spirit and for a time health as well, she had survived and now she was her own person. That happens in real life. People rise from the ashes of horrible experiences to go on and achieve, to live rewarding lives and to even  affect the lives of others in positive ways.

I received a phone call from a male friend who was reading an advance copy of The Devil's Due. His voice didn't sound right, and I feared something bad had happened. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. "I thought you'd like to know you made me cry."

I made a man cry? Well, not me but my book. "What you've done with Jen Connor, the way you've developed her character, actually made me cry. Now I see what you meant when you said the men who read these two books become very protective of Jen. Her courage."

Then there is the courage of staying strong in the face of extreme health issues. Those stalwart people who voice things like "I've got cancer, it doesn't have me."

Recently I hadn't received replies to e-mails of an old grammar school friend from Chicago. We had stayed in touch, rediscovering each other about four years ago. I loved getting her upbeat e-mails, funny comments, thoughts about life. Once a very active woman, she had lost both legs to diabetes and was confined to a wheelchair. She managed to stay so positive, so funny despite her disability. She lived in Tucson and we wrote about my possibly coming to Arizona one day so we could see each other in person. That won't happen. I was concerned about not receiving answers and feared the worst, so I searched her name on the internet and found her obituary. Her courage never ran out...her time did.

ARLISS