Haven’t watched the show but I’ve always had a fondness for Christian Slater. Throwback to my ‘80’s era hair and early ‘90’s love of the surfer boy blonde looks. Long ago I got over the surfer boy blonde hair look (I don’t look good standing next to a blonde, I’m pale.) but I’ve always had that love for the guy who is tall, dark, dangerous and really someone you shouldn’t be standing in a dark corner with- even if he’s supposed to save your life.

Or living a double life.

I have a love of beating the odds. Double life livers are the risk taker extrodinares of beating the odds. Usually consists of the being the hero and the underdog- the most underrated person in the world. No one believes in them, not even themselves. It takes a very special person to get through to an underdog. A true underdog has weighed out all other options and no matter what the answer is always the same. If you do this, you will lose. There is no losing for an underdog. It’s a win-win situation. The whole purpose of an underdog is to show someone else it can be done against all the odds. You might not win the first time, but damnit if you don’t try and try again until you get it right.

Writing is an underdog sport. You know the odds it will take to get finished. To get noticed. To get published. To get famous. And to become a bestseller. It’s damn near impossible. But that doesn’t mean we all give up. No. It means we push ourselves harder. We become more determined and focused and hone our craft until it’s polished and as close to a perfect carat diamond as you’ll ever see.

The goal for me, in my writing, is underdog moments that will bring me in deeper into character. My characters thrive from dangerous situations that they have no control over, and just like myself, my characters like control. They live control. They breathe it. Nothing happens just to happen to them. It’s because they’re so hellbent on controlling every aspect of their lives that they can’t see the boulder racing down the hill towards them like a steamroller. In that instant they turn from hero to underdog and that’s what I love the most about writing and the underdog. I have the ability to make the underdog the hero and I’ve always wanted to be the hero, but remain the underdog.  

My subconscious is my own worst enemy who keeps me at the underdog status (rightfully, I belong in the underdog status. It’s easier to throw off the enemy that way, looking all innocent and sweet). I spend my days working for the underdog, just wanting everyone to have exactly what they want in a world where that doesn’t happen too often. There is always something standing in our way. In general, the world’s population as a whole are underdogs in life. We spend our days working against the odds to rise above it all and take control of our situations. Control is the very aspect of life that an underdog can’t control. So through writing, I take my own worst enemy and I flip it on its ear and give it a new meaning.

Today let’s talk about underdog moments in life and through writing. What is your most memorable underdog moment you’ve experienced or witnessed? How about your characters? Or character’s you’ve read.