Suspension of Disbelief

I’ve always loved the old Mission Impossible series. I used to watch that as a kid, and it must have made an indelible imprint on my brain. The premise of the series was to bring down corrupt politicians and dictators of third-world countries. The show was very much ahead of its time by featuring stories on slavery and apartheid. While I sort of enjoyed the James Bond movies, mostly because of the cool gadgets, as an adult, I was once again influenced by another television series called, Leverage. The premise of that series was to take down the corrupt rich who prayed on the poor. The leader of the group has an ax to grind with the despicable insurance group that ends up denying life-saving treatment for his son, who sadly ends up dying. A sort of Robin Hood group is formed, and a rarity occurs….one of the characters is a badass thief, named Parker. Once described as “20 pounds of crazy in a five-pound bag,” Parker was undoubtedly the inspiration for my character, Val. Of course, it’s also no surprise I’m a Trekkie, especially a fan of the later spin-offs that feature fighting badass women. All these shows greatly influence my romantic intrigue books.

So here’s the thing. All of these stories feature men, with a token woman thrown in for good measure, but never in the really cool fighting capacity until Leverage. Even Leverage, which has the Parker character, casts a man as the martial arts and weapons expert. Sure, the Bond movie enterprise finally casts women in other than the damsel in distress category, and even has badass female villains, but other than the cool gadgets, I didn’t follow those movies because, after Goldfinger, I was thoroughly disgusted. For those who don’t remember the awful misogyny of the Bond enterprise, in this early movie, Bonb pins Pussy Galore (seriously, that was her name) to the floor and kisses her despite obvious verbal and visual cues that she wants him off her. And…the notion that women actually want it, they’re just conditioned to say no, is born. Well, maybe that wasn’t where it started, but it sure grew legs and starting running after that movie. I wanted my love of all things spy, tech, action, and adventure to feature women. I only recently allowed men into The Organization as agents (with the exception of a certain loveable mob boss who is the love interest of the original leader of The Organization-but he isn’t exactly an agent).

Recently, I saw two movies and have solidified my intense need to continue my stories featuring the characters in The Organization, a fictional group of women who are part of a mysterious covert organization. Those movies were Black Panther and The Woman King. The Black Panther had it all for me, a genius woman inventing all kinds of cool gadgets, badass fighting women who protect their leader, and a covert spy-type operation. Although the leader in The Black Panther is a man, he was surrounded by women warriors, like in The Woman King. So what does all this have to do with the suspension of disbelief?

For anyone to enjoy the series and movies I’ve noted, you have to suspend disbelief. Not every little thing is explained. That is especially true for the cool tech. A person simply accepts that everything you see on screen is possible. Even as far back as Mission Impossible, the tech and the disguises required an incredible amount of suspension of disbelief. For anyone who loved Bond, Mission Impossible, Leverage, Star Trek, The Black Panther, and Wakanda Forever, you’ll probably enjoy Asset Management and all the books that come after that featuring the women of The Organization. But only if you don’t look too closely under the hood and want an explanation of how the engine works. Suspend your disbelief, and it will be an enjoyable ride. For those who don’t know the sequence of the books, here they are (including the ones not yet out): Asset Management, The Organization, The Thanksgiving Baby Caper, The Book Witch, Compound Interest, Undercover Love (most recent release), Politics of Love (Coming May 1st) Love Bonds (due out August 1) and The Next Generation Trilogy (due out next year because I’m writing this now). I’ll also send to the folks on my mailing list a free short story titled Witches, Vampires and Shifters, Oh My. Here’s the link to my mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cS3amj