Under the Surface

In honour of my dear friend Pam, whose recent post about her husband’s special mug was one of my favourites on her brilliant blog, below is a picture of my new giant tea mug. I spotted it on the first day of our summer vacation this year, and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I went back to buy it. I’m not a particular fan of the character pictured on it; it was the message that caught my attention.

Beneath this grumpy exterior beats the heart of a dashing hero

Like most writers, I’m an avid people watcher. I love speculating about what’s really going on with that couple at the airport or that woman scowling into her cell phone at the grocery store. It’s not about judgement, but simple human interest. What’s there under the surface? What’s her story? What’s his? Is it what it appears to be or something completely different? The speculations aren’t personal to the people involved, because I don’t know anything about them, truthfully, but the questions feed my writing, inspire scenes or whole plot points or even spark the birth of a new novel idea. And people are just plain interesting to me.

But of course, the most interesting ones, the ones that have become the most important to me, are the ones who let me see – and let me be – the dashing hero behind the grumpy façade or the goofy friend behind the shy exterior. I’m lucky to have a few of those people in my life, and I’m abundantly grateful for them. Hope you have a few, too.