The Quest For Uberness

With heart.

With grace.

With everything you got.


That's the stuff of myth. And that's what captures the imagination. Michelle Kwan's quest for that illusive gold isn't all about pain and tears. It's the determination and the weight of destiny on those young shoulders.

Everyone loves to live vicariously. That's why we watch the Olympics. That's why we love those come-back stories.

Every romance reader does that too. We live vicariously through our characters--experiencing their joys and fears, and yay, like a great Olympic win, the final big scene culminating with the happy ending.

The hero in writing is bigger than life. I like to use mythology because the stories are eons old and still resonate today.

For me, Michelle is like Sisyphus, forever rolling that big rock up the hill, only to watch it roll down again. Like Sisyphus, she has gifted (humans) me with fire and I admire her determination and feel part of her pain. She is a stranger, yet totally a part of me at the same time.

And that's the paradox of a great character. As a reader, I may never know what's it's like to be uber-spy or uber-lord of the manor, but the author has managed to make me understand his psyche. For don't we all have our own private quest and private pain? By using myth, the uber-author taps into our own psyche and make us part of the story.

Michelle's ability to transcend a sport with froufrou skirts into a mythic quest is the stuff of legends. Unfortunately, most legends have unhappy endings, bah.

Question: Anybody cares to tell me what the heck Jed's quest is? ;-) Or Diamond's? Heehee.

Funny (to me) comment overheard on another blog: "the fact Yoko Ono did not sing during the opening ceremony is a good sign that we might have world peace." Bwah!

Also must add: We must so ban velvet from men's figure skating costumes. So, so, painful to watch.

P/S Please send some healing vibes for my furbabee Magic. She's my little fighter and not doing so well this morning.

Bear with me while I learn. The first button likes the POST. The second button likes the BLOG site. Please help me by "liking" me. Thanks!