Hero Worship

A few days ago I got this email saying I had a new message on an online dating site from a guy named Ramirez.

For anyone who hasn’t read my books yet, the hero of my High Heels series is a hot, Latino cop in Los Angeles named… wait for it… Ramirez.

My first thought, staring at this email, was that someone I knew was playing a joke on me. I clicked the link, logged into the dating site and found the note. It was a short little, “Hey, what’s up, liked your profile” kind of thing. Signed Ramirez. Still thinking I was being set up, I clicked on the link to see his profile.

A picture of a hot Latino guy pops up. We’re talking HOT. Not someone I recognize, not one of my girlfriends playing a joke on me. And, as I browse through his pics, I can tell they’re not fakes, either. It’s the same guy in different settings, some with his family, some in military garb. This Ramirez is a real guy.

I read the rest of his profile. And, would you believe… turns out he’s a cop. Seriously. And that’s not all. He’s relocating to my area soon, but for the past two years he’s lived in Los Angeles. A hot Latino cop in L.A. named Ramirez.

I literally found my hero.

So, of course, I had to talk to this guy. Granted, things are going swimmingly with Mr. Big, so I’m not really thinking dating is in the cards. But, this guy is my hero. I’m dying to know how else he might be like the Ramirez in my books. This is just too great an opportunity to pass up. So, I give him my number, and the next night he calls me. I’ll admit, I was excited as I picked up the phone. I mean, how many times does a writer actually get to meet her hero?

So, with bated breath, I answer, “Hello?”

You know that great line from Jerry Maguire? “You had me at hello.”
Well, this was the opposite. Ramirez lost me at “Yo, babe.”

And things only got worse.

Every other word from the real Ramirez was “f”in this and “my homies” that. He told me all about the time he got jumped at a club for wearing the wrong baseball team colors in the hood. He told me how he used to live with his parents, but they thought he was too lazy and kicked him out. He told me his cousin lives in my town, just a few blocks away, but he “don’t see her no more” ‘cause she owes him money he lent her for a tattoo. He told me he really digs kids – his ex wife had three by three different “baby daddies”.

Big time reality check.

I ended the conversation as quickly as I could, realizing this was not someone I ever wanted to talk to again.

I guess there’s a reason I write about fictional guys. My hero was much more heroic when I was the one putting words into his mouth.

What about you ladies? Is there a real life inspiration behind the heroes you write? Do you ever put a real man in the role of the heroes you read about?


~Trigger Happy Halliday