Ethical rule breakers
The other day, I came across a term that I think perfectly captures the essence of my female protagonists: ethical rulebreakers.
I wish I had thought of it myself, but alas, I just create imaginary people in that mold. At first blush the term strikes as a bit discordant, almost oxymoronic. But I don’t think it is. Like everything, it comes down to the why.
Why does a young journalist break every rule in the book to score her dream assignment covering the war in Vietnam when it may very well cost her life? Nice girls in 1969 don’t run off to war and gad about the jungle with a platoon of soldiers who don’t quite know what to make of her.
Chris McKenna, the protagonist of that story, has her reasons. Most of them are good reasons; I think all of them are understandable reasons, even if you’re the type who frowns upon the shattering of gender norms, if perhaps not the glass ceiling.
In the same vein, CIA operative Kate Devlin may have accidentally created a terrorist in her well-meaning quest to fight terrorism. Her creative solution to an intractable problem—never having enough intelligence—creates an entirely new set of problems that quickly spins out of control. Anyone can create a terrorist; but once that monster comes to life, how do you control it?
Both women’s choices lead to questions that only they can answer. What does a hard-charging journalist owe to the warfighters who become her story? What does a CIA operative owe to the young man she knowingly exposes to virulent extremism in her efforts to save and protect? Do the ends justify the means?
“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm,” said the French writer Colette.
One could argue that both Chris and Kate do foolish things, but they do them with the best of intentions and, yes, plenty of enthusiasm. And in my mind, that counts for everything. Yeah, they step in it along the way, and they definitely take some hits. But they never stop fighting for what they believe is right, and they never forget the means that got them to their ends.
Read A Summer of War to find out why Chris jets off to Vietnam at the height of the conflict. For Kate’s story, pick up The Stars Refuse to Shine, the first novel in The Sandstorm Series. Then download Sandstorm Rising, a free novella, to find out exactly how Kate and company wrap up that loose end, as it were.
Happy reading!
