Male on Tuesday

No, it's not Tuesday.

But Monday, January 4th, I have the Male on Monday slot at The Pink Heart blog, and I wrote about one of my very first heroes who came into my life every Tuesday night for four years between 1959-1963.

The hero was Jess Harper, the cowboy-drifter who turned up on Laramie in the very first episode and, while he was always a threat to go, never ever left.

He was played by handsome, talented Robert Fuller -- he of the lean hard body, the piercing blue eyes (though the first two years were in black-and-white so who knew?), the unruly dark hair, the unforgettable rough baritone voice and the mix of wry humor and fierce intensity -- who has colored all my heroes to this very day.

If ever a man was perfect for a part, Bob Fuller was Jess.

Even he said that. Back in 1992 when writer Jessica Douglass and I were putting together a workshop on My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys for the RWA conference, we asked him.

It was one of those times when research is more fun than you can imagine -- and you learn that your childhood heroes can sometimes be as memorable in person as they were in your imagination.

I wrote about Bob Fuller and Jess Harper and the impact they had on my life and my books in a piece called 'Jess Harper -- My Kind of Hero' that I did my first year writing this blog. I won't rehash it here. If you want a look, click on the link above.

Suffice to say, he inspired either directly or indirectly a lot of my heroes -- but especially Jess Cooper in A Cowboy For Christmas and Robert Tanner in Cowboys Don't Cry. They were both tough, intense, quiet, lone wolf sorts of men, men who struggled to do the right thing.

They had flaws, but fortunately for them -- and for my books and heroines -- not fatal flaws. Life wasn't easy for them. They had tough decisions to make, and while they were busy being noble, sometimes they got it wrong the first time. Happily they got it right in the end.

Who were your earliest heroes?

Tell me and what inspired you, and you could win a copy of A Cowboy For Christmas. Micah and Mitch will be picking a winner (with my help) on Friday.

Temptations

It's blog time for me again over at the Pink Heart Society where I get to talk about temptations. At the moment, neck-deep in revisions, my biggest temptation is to be anywhere but at my desk.

And the greatest temptation drawing me away from my desk are several boxed sets of DVDs that I -- or lucky family members -- found under the Christmas tree.

For years we didn't have a television at all. We never had one before we got married and after the kids were born we deliberately didn't get one because it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Certainly I know it saved a lot of arguments over the years about who wanted to watch what and how much time could they spend watching it.

I was always a low-maintenance kind of mother -- if confrontations could be avoided, I was all for that -- as long as they toed the line when it mattered. They did. And the tv wasn't around to be a temptation at all.

It wasn't until the youngest headed off to Wyoming at age 18 for school that we (no, I) succumbed. I bought a television. But I tend to forget to watch it. It doesn't tempt me because I have to rearrange my schedule to fit its schedule (we don't have Tivo).

But I love boxed sets. I can watch them when I want, however many I want, and I don't miss anything that way. For years I've been hoping that they would put Laramie, my favorite western from when I was a kid, on DVD and in a boxed set. For years no one did.

And now, my dear friend Jessica Douglass tells me, they are doing season 3. Season 3 happened about 1961, which was about the time I stopped watching because I got a life. So chances are I never saw any of those episodes. Umpteen hours of Robert Fuller just waiting for me . . . talk about temptation.

I don't know when they are expected to come out yet. Jessica didn't say. But I've put my name down to be notified. And I'm going to go get busy on revisions so I can watch the Foyle's War DVDs I already have so my TBV (to-be-viewed) pile is empty for when Laramie arrives.

Do you like boxed sets? Which ones? Has anyone seen Burn Notice?

I bought it for Kate Walker for Christmas on the basis of reviews. It's on my Netflix list, but I need to get the revisions done first. What do you think?

Yes, I know I should have asked before I bought it, but I couldn't because she reads this blog. Her cat Sidney reads this blog. There is no privacy in blogworld. That said however, if you have other recommendations for future gifts (like birthdays) send them along. I'd be grateful.