FreshFiction asked why my heroes often lose their moral compass or, in the case of my latest novel, SCOUT’S HONOR, have it ripped from them by outrageous fate. In Scout’s, young Eddie Kawadsky is a straight A student—Annapolis bound—until he loses everything, his parents, his home, and his place in the world. Forced to live in his van, he is seduced into crime. The tale is at heart, one of redemption, of Eddie’s struggle to regain his sense of honor, of his finding the strength to atone for his sins through the love of a good and noble woman. But why do I write about characters who make immoral choices? Because the truth is that at some point in our lives, we all do. Have you ever met a true saint? Many years ago, a cynical old friend scoffed, “People are as moral as they can afford to be.” He was referring to a friend who had deeply disappointed him, a business partner whose financial collapse had revealed his moral bankruptcy. In Les Miserable, Jean Valjean is imprisoned for stealing bread to feed his sister’s starving children. Upon his release from prison 19 years later, Jean promptly steals a bishop’s…