True

Alcoholics drink. Liars lie. Demon Babies? They are fascinated with things like the trajectory of saliva. But because they are Demon Babies with extraordinary powers of Demonology, they aren't like mere mortal babies who study the physics of saliva trajectory as it applies to spit hitting sidewalk. No, Demon Babies are interested in the trajectory of saliva entering the ear canal of sleeping mothers. But you're not surprised, are you?

Moving on . . . children giggle. Flowers bloom. The sun rises. Every day. But people? Well, ministers pray. Buddhist monks chant. Chefs cook. A helluva lot better than I do. Crack addicts steal and lie. People . . . tend to be true. True to who they are.

Sometimes, it may seem, I am sure my dad would say, as if I am hopelessly optimistic. WHY on earth would I think saving a single teen mother from a life of crack and poverty by mentoring her as she studies and makes dean's list, will make one damn bit of difference. There's a cesspool of poverty in this country. ONE will not make a difference. But pessimists? They're pessimistic. They are true to that. So I expect him to believe that. And that's OK. Me? I'm a realist. I'm NOT an optimist. I know people are true to themselves. That Demon Babies love the physics of saliva trajectory, that drug addicts will steal your car to buy drugs, that . . . you get the idea. But I choose, I guess, to think starting with ONE is okay. It's enough. For now. Then you can start with another one. And then one . . . and . . . it's not optimism. I think it's TRUE.

What brings on this whole discussion? Well, I went to see JUNO last night. For me, it totally lived up to the hype. But what amazed me, in terms of script and character, was how TRUE it was. Because people in the movie remained true to who they really are. The stepmother character was remarkably three-dimensional. She loved a man, married him, got an unusual stepdaughter in the mix, and kept as tight a lid as she could on the whole situation. She wasn't bad--she just . . . well, got Juno for a stepdaughter and did the best she probably could. And then she had moments--these amazing moments--of championing this girl (no spoilers here . . . ). And it wasn't like a Hollywood movie where music swells and everyone is all happy and rosy and wonderful and everything is fixed. We're never "all" fixed. Not ALL.

And to me, when writing character, that's what's true. Too often, it's easy to give everything a happy ending in a neat little bow, to solve the crime and fix it all. But what's true? In my first novel, Spanish Disco, do you know I actually heard from more than a few readers who said, "I am your new biggest fan because you actually wrote a romantic comedy that ended with the word 'testicles'"? No easy feat. I started the book with an analogy to bloody bodies scraped off the pavement of I-95 like roadkill possums. Along the way, Cassie Hayes changed. She learned to cry. She learned to love people a little. To try to trust. But she also had to grieve something she thought she could never grieve. She was changed, for the better. But she was also true. Because she didn't suddenly have an epiphany and become someone else. She was her. True. Using phrases like, "Touch a word of this manuscript and I'll cut off your testicles." From page 1 to the end, she was true.

People spout, to writers, to be "true." To stay true to character. Sometimes that's not easy. There's a temptation to veer from truth. Usually, what's true is a shade of gray. A lot of times it's not pretty. But it's true, and that's sometimes beautiful.

You see, saliva physics isn't beautiful. I won't lie. But there are other truths that are beautiful about Demon Babies. Like how they like to put their heads on your pillow, nose to nose, and stare at you, then kiss your lips and say, "You're beautiful, Mom." Even when you have saliva in your hair.

Thoughts? What is true about your character?