What makes a hero?

One of the challenging parts of writing is defining your hero. Are they a good person? Are they so good they are too weak to do what is necessary to save humanity? Are they a decent person forced to do bad things by circumstance? These are not trivial questions; we see this same dilemma around us every day – in politics, in sports, in life. Good people do bad things because it’s the only way forward. Bad people do good things because they realize they can’t continue on their present path. Society tends to be judgmental, black and white. The real world is not that way. And neither is the world of the writer. In my upcoming third book, “Imprint of Defiance”, I found this dilemma surrounding the characters I created. The question is, which are they? Good, but weak? Bad, but redeemable? I’m still peeling back the layers…so I don’t know yet. You thought authors knew all the answers… That’s not the way it works. These characters come alive to you. You don’t always know where they will go. We shall see…