Imagine my surprise: I saw bits and pieces of The Alamo (with Jason Patric and Billy Bob Thornton) for the first time this weekend and actually liked it. I never thought that would be the case, which helps to explain why I didn’t see it in the theatre.

No one’s ever described me as a Thornton fan. I came a lot closer to becoming one after seeing him in this.

He played Davy Crockett, who evidently preferred being called David, as a very different man from the legend we all grew up with. For example: Thornton’s Crockett wasn’t an overtly brave man, at least when it came to going into battle.

As a result, he became a far more interesting character to me.

Far as I’m concerned, true heroes are those who are afraid of taking right action and take it anyway. I tend to assume someone who feels no fear and simply rushes into a dangerous situation—while admirable—probably just lacks the imagination to recognize all the potential problems involved.

Therefore, it’s no more courageous for them to enter into the fray than it is for me to get out of bed in the morning. Although walking past a mirror before combing my hair can take a whole lot of gumption. Trust me.

I’m my mother’s daughter. So I see every possible danger—real and imagined—in every situation. This is my family’s form of survival training. Because I’m familiar with fear, I can relate to characters who feel it as well. Their ability to force themselves to still charge forward gives me hope that I might be able to respond in like fashion in a similar situation.

You gotta love a character who gives you hope for yourself . . . or the whole human condition.

WHAT ABOUT YOU, DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE CHARACTER FROM A BOOK OR MOVIE? IF SO, PLEASE TELL US WHO AND WHY HE OR SHE FASCINATES YOU. A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER, WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE NEXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

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Jaycie Cash blogs on a regular basis for Writerspace.com Her debut novel, MRS. GOODFELLER, is available through most major e-Book outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She’d love for you to like her Facebook Author page.