Thursday, February 19, 2009

Darlene Gardner asks: How much does hearsay play into your perception of others?

I've been thinking about that question a lot this month with the release of my book The Hero's Sin, the first in a new series from Harlequin Superromance.

At the beginning of the book, Sara Brenneman witnesses Michael Donahue risk deadly whitewater to save a child from drowning. She thinks of him as a hero before she finds out that many people in town have another name for him: Murderer.

No matter what anyone says, she won't change her mind. She believes only what her heart tells her.

My editor tells me the kind of blind faith Sara displays is a hallmark of my books. Of my life too, I think. I once worked with a woman who was disliked by most of our co-workers. I heard story after negative story about her. Yet she was always perfectly lovely to me so I chose not to believe the gossip.

Naivety? Maybe. Many a woman has gotten burned for not believing friends who told her the guy she was in love with was a player.

What do you think? How can you tell when it's okay to listen to your heart?

Darlene Gardner