I need a hero…

I’m holding on for a hero at the end of the night. He’s got to be strong and he’s got to be fast and he’s got to be straight from the fight…

Or so said Bonnie Tyler in a song I’ve always loved and it does sound good, doesn't it? Not easy to get hold of, but still good. I need a regular supply of heroes, so I start with a few simple rules. Can you say “Oh, thank heavens you’re here’ and believe it’s going to be all right now? Into that category go Dads, Granddads, Uncles and other important males in our lives. Also, I can imagine saying it to a doctor or an airline pilot or a plumber or a garage mechanic, but not a media studies graduate, although that could mean I’m prejudiced against media studies graduates.

I rapidly realised that it was, because it can also be someone who’s out of their depth but still stepping up because they’re better than no one and there isn’t anyone else. These are one of my favourite kinds of heroes, along with the professional sort, who routinely run towards all the stuff the rest of us run away from. That takes a special sort of mindset, but so does everyday heroics. Caring for the child with additional needs or the elderly relative. Stopping to help because you know that it is the right thing to do. Simply carrying on living when you can’t see the point and it hurts so very much. I recognise that in women too, but today it seemed right to focus on the men a bit.

And why? Because I’ve noticed so many nice men around recently. The fishermen who are talking to the kids. The team who are replacing the sluice gates were happy to explain how they’re going to do it, because it does interest me. The guys from the biodiversity team who are making the Harbourside better and better for all of us. The lifeboatmen, obviously, and the Marine Police and the Marines themselves.

All of them are heroes in their own particular ways, and none of them will think of themselves as that, so I suppose I’m saying look out for all the lovely men out there and don’t blame them for the deeds of a nasty few. Don’t blame women either. In fact, maybe we could all try to see the best in each other.

And yes, I am writing another Lucy Williams book at the moment and its underlying themes are as complicated, as mine so often are. How do you find the right father figure when you’re a widow? If you fall in love again, are you being disloyal to your late husband? How do you let go gracefully of the most precious person in your world/? And what do you do when you see someone being abused but they won’t let you help them?

Those are all big complicated questions, but we all have to tackle ones like them, so I’ll leave them for now, accept there aren’t any answers and do a little sales plug for all six of the Lavender House series. These are straightforward romances, on special offer this week for 99p in the UK and 99c inn the US and the first three are also available in an anthology called “The Scent of Lavender’ at £2.99 if you live in countries where you can’t get special offers and if you just fancy them when they’re not on offer. They’re about strong women and women who haven’t yet realised they’re strong. Women who’ve had to fight, and women who have to learn to stop fighting and maybe even trust. And there’s a long-ago love story to explain the ghost who helps out.

They're called House of Dreams, Ghost of Dreams, Ghost of A Chance, A Time to Fight, Sunshine and Shadows and Love Always, and they’re not about perfect people. They are about brave ones, because courage comes in so many different forms, and so, when I think about heroes, I realise that that’s pretty much all of us.


So good luck this week and here’s hoping you don’t have to be too heroic.

And here is a nice picture of someone paddleboarding. I had to watch him for your sake. Aren’t I brave too?