What does this mean? To me, I don’t see a black straight Christian man who’s a Democrat from Chicago.
I see a man.
And that man has dozens upon dozens of individual characteristics—both those superficial yet easily labeled differences, as well as differences such as his love of mocha ice cream (Mocha Ice Cream Lover! There’s a label!) and his dislike of peanut butter, his ability to do complicated multiplication in his head, his inability to spell, his fear of tornados, his musical talents, his need to check in on his children before he goes to sleep at night even though he knows they’re all right, his undying love for the woman he first met at a party in college that time he was so drunk he threw up on his best friend’s shoes and she wouldn’t have anything to do with him for months but he knew she was the one so he didn’t give up.…
If you take the time to look beneath the labels and generalizations, you will always find a person who is more like you than not. (When Sam sat down and talked to Jules—really talked to him—he realized they were more alike than different.)
This is why, to me, things like skin color and background and age differences aren’t that big of a deal in terms of a romantic relationship, and why diverse characters aren’t hard to write.
Q: Let’s talk a little more about that—about looking beneath the labels and generalizations—as well as the facades that people create to hide behind. This seems to be a theme that runs throughout your books.
SUZ: That’s absolutely right. One of the themes that I frequently tackle in my books is about how we deal with perception and facades. We present ourselves to the world in a certain way, and people identify us, judge us, and label us. This happens all the time in our society. It’s easy, it’s quick, and it requires little effort.
My goal with my books is always to grow tolerance and acceptance. To encourage people to look beyond the things that they expect to see, to try to see individuals instead of stereotypes.
Sam Starrett, for example, starts out as an alpha male who has some preconceived notions about other people—particularly about Jules Cassidy, who is gay. Sam is a little homophobic and Jules freaks him out. He doesn’t see Jules-the-individual, he sees one of those creepy-to-him gay guys.
But at the same time, Alyssa Locke is doing the very same thing to Sam. She sees a white guy from Texas, with his cowboy boots and Texas drawl—a good ol’ boy, or a “cracker,” if you will. She jumps to some conclusions about him. Redneck. Small-minded, racist … When, in truth, he’s nothing of the sort.
Throughout Sam’s journey in these books, he comes to know Jules. He works with Jules and learns that Jules is worthy of his respect and admiration. He gets to know Jules as an individual, and the two men become friends. Real friends. At the end of the story arc, Sam is no longer homophobic. His ignorance about what being gay means is replaced with understanding—and acceptance and friendship.
Likewise, Alyssa’s assumptions are changed as, through her story arc, she discovers who Sam truly is.
Q: But at the same time, Sam has to stop hiding. He has to reveal himself to Alyssa.
SUZ: Yes, he does. You know, I think the ultimate human story is that of finding a true connection with another person—finding real, honest love. The thing about that is, in order to find such a real connection, you’ve got to be willing to reveal yourself completely, which takes true courage.
One of my favorite scenes in a movie is in Bridget Jones’s Diary, where the Colin Firth character says to Bridget, “I like you very much. Just as you are.” What an incredible moment!
We come from a society that infuses us with dissatisfaction and fear. Not only are we taught to believe that we’re not good enough, but we’re taught that we better pretend to be something better or we will be made fun of, or worse—ignored.
We also, as a society, are quick to label. Like I said earlier, we feel more comfortable putting people into categories—defining people in easy-to-understand ways. She’s a lawyer. He’s a science teacher. She’s Jewish. He’s Latino. She’s the mother of three. He’s a grandfather.
But the labels we give also judge. He’s an ex-con—he’s dangerous. She’s well-endowed—she’s a slut. She’s blond—she’s a ditz … etc., etc.
Of course, not all labels and judgments are negative. He’s a Harvard grad—he’s a good job candidate. She’s a nun—she’s kind and forgiving. But just like negative assumptions, these positive judgments may or may not be true!
Everyone who lives and breathes and walks the earth—and I’ll include my characters in with that group, since I try my best to breathe life into them—has to deal with the labels that others in our society have put on them. They also have to deal with the labels that they put onto other people. Plus they have to try to see the truth behind the labels that the rest of the world puts on other people.
And they themselves can take advantage of others’ needs to label and define—by playing into others’ expectations. For example: Cosmo Richter is a Navy SEAL. He’s tall and muscular with exotically colored eyes and striking features. He looks dangerous, and he’s quiet—he doesn’t talk much.
He also keeps what he’s feeling to himself—he’s very private. People look at him and see his lack of reaction and think, Yikes. He doesn’t feel a thing. He’s like a dangerous robot. And Cosmo lets them think that. He finds it’s easier to go through life protected by that shield—people who are a little bit afraid of him tend to keep their distance from him. Right?
But what happens when Cosmo finds someone to whom he’d like to get close? What does he have to do to connect with her? He’s got to reveal himself, to unpeel.
It’s this unpeeling of layers that truly fascinates me—because no two people unpeel the same way. Some reveal themselves voluntarily and hopefully, while others resist, kicking and screaming. Some never really unpeel completely (like Nash in Flashpoint)—but they try. And sometimes that’s enough for the people who love them—just knowing that they’re trying.
Valentine’s Day
An Essay on Navy Life
Written for Valentine’s Day 2002
Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is about heart-shaped boxes of candies, romantic cards, a dozen roses, a candlelit dinner for two … All lovely traditions, but face it, they just don’t compare to the Valentine’s Day gift that the servicemen and -women in the U.S. Armed Forces give—not just to their loved ones but to every American.
My friend Rob is a petty officer in the U.S. Navy, and his ship recently returned to port after six months at sea. He and the rest of the crew spent Thanksgiving and Christmas away from their families. They were all glad to be home in time for Valentine’s Day.
Not that they needed Valentine’s Day to make their return to port romantic. In fact, recently Rob told me about a particularly sweet Navy ritual called “The First Kiss.”
As they approach their home port, all of the married men and women aboard the ship participate in a lottery. And oh, the competition for this is very fierce. Because the winner is the first to disembark, the first to greet—and kiss—his or her spouse after six very long months away from home.
It’s the sheer romantic sentimentality of this custom that gets to me. The very first person to set foot on shore isn’t chosen by rank or rate or power. That honor is given to someone lucky enough to be married and in love.
This is the big, bad U.S. Navy, an arm of the most powerful military force in the world. And yet everyone—from admirals to seamen recruits—unabashedly recognizes that the most important part of their homecoming lies in the arms of the men and women waiting for them.
But maybe that’s not such a surprise. Anyone willing to sacrifice so much to serve their country, to help ensure that America remains the “land of the free” has to have a good understanding of the power of love.
For our servicemen and -women, love isn’t about heart-shaped boxes of chocolate.
It’s about spending every minute of your long-awaited shore leave desperately trying to find a telephone
to call your daughter on her birthday.
Love isn’t a candlelit dinner for two, it’s a hurried meal at 1530 hours in the mess hall for fifty, because the ship’s in hostile waters and you’ve got to get back on duty.
Love isn’t a lacy greeting card, it’s moving slowly in the darkness, one careful foot at a time, searching for booby traps in a cave that was once a terrorist hideout in Afghanistan.
Love isn’t a dozen roses, it’s fifteen dozen nights at sea, sleeping in a rack in a crowded cabin, half a world away from your lover’s arms.
Love isn’t just the First Kiss—it’s every kiss that every man and woman in military service willingly gives up when they volunteer. It’s every moment away from home and family that they sacrifice for another love—love of country.
And love of freedom.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all the servicemen and -women in all branches of the U.S. Military.
Thanks for the terrific gift.
And hurry home.
Glossary of Troubleshooters Terms
AK-47: An automatic rifle, first manufactured by Kalashnikov in Russia in 1947. Capable of firing 600 rounds per minute.
ALL HANDS: A meeting or an event where attendance is mandatory.
ALPHABET AGENCIES: Slang for government agencies identified by acronyms such as the FBI and CIA.
AO: Area of Operations.
AWOL: Absent WithOut Leave.
BATTALION: A unit of 800 to 1,000 troops.
BDUs: Battle Dress Uniforms.
BUD/S: Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs. The intensive training all candidates complete in order to become SEALs.
BEQ: Bachelor Enlisteds’ Quarters. Housing for unmarried enlisted personnel.
BOQ: Bachelor Officers’ Quarters. Housing for unmarried officers.
C4: An easy-to-carry, versatile, pliable plastic explosive with a texture similar to Play-Doh. Lightweight and stable, it can be dropped, shot, and even lit on fire, but it won’t explode without a detonator. Often used in place of Sterno to heat coffee. Originally called Composition C, it was developed during World War II by the British.
CAMMIES: Military uniforms in various camouflage print patterns, including woodland, jungle, desert, and urban.
CDRNAVSPECWARCOM: Commander of Naval Special Warfare.
CHARLIE-FOXTROT: Radio call signs for the letters C and F, charlie-foxtrot is a more polite name for clusterfuck. (See clusterfuck.)
CHIT:A permission slip, usually for leave.
CIA: Central Intelligence Agency.
CLUSTERFUCK: A total screwup or disaster, usually caused by incompetence, ignorance, or sheer stupidity. This term makes good use of a word that is a favorite among sailors. (See also goatfuck.)
CNO: Chief of Naval Operations.
CO: Commanding Officer. (SEAL Team Sixteen’s CO was originally Tom Paoletti. Lt. Commander Lewis Koehl is the current CO of the team.)
COMPANY: A unit of 150 to 200 troops.
COMSPESH: Computer specialist. Tess Bailey is Troubleshooters Incorporated’s Comspesh.
CONUS: Continental United States. (See OCONUS.)
COVER: Hat.
DADT: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—a misguided and obsolete law that forced LGBTQ servicemen and -women to lie about their sexual orientation.
DECK: A floor of a building or ship.
DEFCON: DEFense CONdition. The USA’s graduated security alert system. DEFCON 1 is the highest level of alert, DEFCON 5 is the lowest.
DIVISION: A unit of 10,000 to 15,000 troops.
DOD: Department of Defense.
DRESS WHITES: The U.S. Navy’s white, lightweight summer uniform. Can be the Class-A uniform or Service Dress Whites, or formal attire. Also known as an ice-cream suit.
DZ: Drop Zone.
E&E: Escape and Evasion.
EXFILTRATE: Departure of SEALs, usually with stealth, from an area of operations.
EXTRACTION: To be removed from an area of operations, usually by air. SEALs often extract by sea.
FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigations.
FIREFIGHT: A skirmish involving the exchange of gunfire.
FOB: Forward Operating Base.
FROGMEN: Nickname for U.S. Navy UDT operators. (See UDT.)
GEEDUNK: A vending machine or ship’s store selling soda and/or junk food. Geedunk can also be the soda/ junk food itself. The name comes from the sound of a can of soda falling from a vending machine.
GOATFUCK: A total screwup, a mission gone bad, a disaster. (See also clusterfuck.)
Note from Suz: In compiling and researching this glossary, I think I may have found clues leading us closer to the answer for that timeless question “What is the difference between a goatfuck and a clusterfuck?” I recently found a military definition site which proclaimed the definition of “goat” to be similar to “loser.” This site identified a goat as the lowest-ranking man in a group of service personnel, but a goat could also be those officers from the very bottom of a military school’s graduating class. (Joke: What do you call a goat who graduates bottom of the class from West Point? You call him “Sir.”) So it’s possible that a goatfuck is a slightly more inevitable screwup caused by the incompetence or stupidity of the participating officers. But, if goat is interchangeable with loser, then anyone caught in a disastrous situation could, in a true military manner, with glass-half-full thinking, consider themselves to be the loser or goat who is getting, you know, disastered. Whereas “cluster” seems to imply a more impromptu screwup on a far grander scale …
GRINDER: The assembly area at the Coronado Naval Base, designated for PT.
GWOT: Global War on Terror.
HALO JUMP: High Altitude Low Opening parachute jump.
HEAD: Toilet or bathroom on board a ship.
HELO: Helicopter.
HK-MP4: Heckler & Koch submachine gun—a favorite of the SEALs. A compact 9mm weapon that is reliable even after saltwater immersion.
HK-MP5: Heckler & Koch submachine gun, even smaller than the MP4, also known as a “room broom.” Also a 9mm, it’s often used for close combat urban situations. Small enough to conceal under a jacket. (If you’re a SEAL, that is, but probably not if you’re Lindsey Fontaine.)
HOT BUNKING: Sharing a bed, but sleeping at different times. Used in cases of limited billeting or housing, usually on board a ship. If Sam Starrett and Kenny Karmody were hot bunking, Sam would sleep for the first shift. Kenny would wake him when it was his turn to sleep. Sam would roll out of the bunk and Kenny would roll in—and the bunk would still be hot from Sam’s body heat. At the end of World War II, troop transport ships were frequently filled beyond capacity. The men chose to hot bunk or even sleep on deck in order to get home to their families as quickly as possible.
HUMINT: Human intelligence. Intelligence gathered the old-fashioned way, by using the eyes and ears of human agents, spies, or informants.
ICE CREAM SUIT: Nickname for any white uniform, particularly Navy dress uniforms.
IED: Improvised Explosive Device.
INFILTRATE: Entry by SEALs, usually with stealth, into an area of operations.
INSERTION: To be placed in an area of operations, usually by air. SEALS often insert by sea.
INTEL: Intelligence.
JARHEAD: Nickname for Marines. Also known as Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children (USMC).
K-BAR: A very deadly fighting utility knife issued to SEALs. Also known as a KA-BAR knife.
KEVLAR: The material used in bulletproof vests and body armor.
KIA: Killed in Action.
KLICKS OR CLICKS: Kilometers. Military measurement of distance. One klick equals 0.6214 miles.
LZ: Landing Zone.
M16: Nickname for the Colt M16A2 rifle issued to the SEALs. Unloaded, it weighs more than twelve pounds. Fires a small, high velocity bullet, with a range of 460 meters.
MEDAL OF HONOR: Highest military award of the United States.
MEDEVAC: Medical Evacuation, usually by helicopter, to field hospital or aid sta
tion.
MESS HALL: Dining facility.
MIA: Missing in Action, usually from a battle situation. If someone is declared MIA, it’s not known if they are dead or alive.
MP: Military Police.
MRE: Meal Ready to Eat.
MURPHY’S LAW: “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” A good SEAL officer will expect Mr. Murphy to accompany him on every mission, and be prepared for his appearance.
NAVINTEL: Naval Intelligence.
NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer. Senior Chief Stan Wolchonok and Chief Cosmo Richter are both NCOs.
NCONVs: Night vision goggles. (See also NVGs.)
NVGs: Night Vision Goggles or Glasses.
O COURSE: Obstacle Course. An important part of BUD/S training.
OC: Officer Candidate. (See OCS.)
OCONUS: Outside the Continental United States. (Pronounced oh-koh-ness.)
OCS: Officers Candidate School. Originally used to train enlisted men for special wartime assignments, it’s now a twenty-six-week program for enlisted who want to become commissioned officers. Sam Starrett began his Navy career as an enlisted man. He attended OCS and became an officer.
OFFICERS’ COUNTRY: The places where officers work and even live, such as the BOQ. Particularly relevant onboard ship.
OSS: Office of Strategic Services. Developed in 1942, the OSS was an early version of the CIA and Special Forces.
OTS: Officers Training School. (See OSC.)
PITA: Pain In The Ass
PJ: The nickname for the U.S. Air Force Para-Rescue Jumpers or Parajumpers.
PLATOON: A unit of 30 to 50 troops.
POINT MAN: The SEAL responsible for taking the lead in an advancing squad. The point man will be the first to contact the enemy or trip booby traps. Related terms: On point or taking the point.
PSYOPS: Psychological Operations. The use of propaganda or misinformation to affect the morale of the enemy.
PT: Physical Training.
PUCKER FACTOR: A rating system for fear or tension. A high pucker factor indicates that all muscles are extremely tight.
PX: Post exchange. A store, usually on base, selling general merchandise for servicemen and -women and their families.
Headed for Trouble Page 26
