Novelist/screenwriter Scott Harper’s official blog

This morning, Desirée Lee had a routine doctor appointment; nothing to be concerned about. I went with her. We got up, and around, had breakfast, and Desirée got Toddler Girl to school. Everything was running smoothly. Which was good, as we were on a bit of a tight time schedule. Then, as I was putting on my sneakers, the lace of my right shoe broke. Of all the time for that to happen! And, naturally, we didn’t have any spare shoe laces in the house. So, I quickly changed out of the blue jeans I had originally put on, and put black jeans on to better go with the shoes I ended up wearing – my goth black bat boots.

At the doctor’s office, after Desirée had been called back, I sat in the waiting room, reading. I’m currently reading “Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy – Collector’s Edition” by R.A. Salvator, by the way. It’s the first “Forgotten Realms” I’ve ever read, and I’m enjoying it very much.

Anyway, there I was, sitting quietly, reading. I had on my pentacle amulet (which I never leave the house without), bat boots, black jeans, black socks, a black T-shirt with a white wolf on it, and my black coat that has a nice, warm gray fleece lining. It was in the low 30s, and very foggy out at the time – Pacific Northwest autumn at its finest! The chair I was seated in was situated between the doors, and the check-in desk.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed two people walking in my direction very, very slowly. I glanced up, and saw a young woman, and her very young son. The woman had a tight hold on her little boy. Her eyes were wide, and she was staring at me. Abruptly, she rushed her son by me to the check-in desk. I don’t know what happened at the desk concerning them, but the woman had to go back out to her car for something, then come back in. That meant walking by me twice more. Both times she walked very slowly, as if dreading getting anywhere near me, and then practically ran her little boy by me before settling into a normal walk after getting on the other side of where I happened to be sitting. Keep in mind, too, that I’m 6′ 1″, and around 220 pounds. I’m not a little guy. But even if people notice my pentacle amulet, and not knowing what it really means, give me frowns, I don’t typically garner the types of reactions that I got this morning from that young woman – unless I’m wearing the bat boots. As they’re not overly comfortable, and they have zero traction, I don’t wear them often. Desirée  loves them, so I sometimes wear them for that reason alone. This morning, I had them on as I was unable to wear my usual sneakers out and about.

Though nothing at all came up about my writing career in talking to anyone while we were out this morning – it usually doesn’t – I can’t help but wonder something. Do such reactions from people, whether they know of my work as a writer, or not, help or harm my status as a bestselling, award-winning author? Or does it even matter one way, or the other? Even if people see me wearing the bat boots, and know that I’m an author, I write paranormal, horror, fantasy, and science fiction. People often expect authors to dress in accordance with whatever genre(s) they work in.

What do you all think?

Scott Harper

www.scottharper.net