What Are Secrets?

Alice came to a fork in the road.

“Which road do I take?” She asked.

“Where do you want to go?” responded the Cheshire cat.

"I don’t know?" Alice answered.

“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Since I was a small child, I have always identified with the ever curious Cheshire Cat.
Like some twisted archetype, that character epitomizes the ultimate observer - watching silently but  tempting us with that tantalizing glimmer in his eyes, holding tightly to his secrets, kindling our curiosity about what those secrets might be.
In old Sicily, they called it Omerta. The code of silence. Break that code and... well, you get the picture.
La Cosa Nostra certainly had their ways of enforcing that code, but what about the rest of us? I like to think that we live in a more civilized culture... but sometimes I wonder!My definition falls more within the normal realm... Confidential. Shared only by the initiated. Containing information that, if disclosed, would pose a threat to ones self or others.
Human nature tells us that it is the "We want what we are denied" instinct that drives our curiosity and compels us to keep asking questions until we find what we seek.
In my day job, I hear all about other peoples secrets. Some scandalous, some irrelevant, few of which hold my attention for more than a few minutes before they are lost to the cacophony of my busy workplace. And of course, it would be unethical to disclose such confidential information.
It's been said that truth is stranger than fiction but, when I want to hear a juicy secret, I like to sink my teeth into a really good book.
I love a story with compelling - and usually hot - characters that drive my curiosity and make me desperate to know more. Where they live, what they look like. And a good imagination always paints a more vivid image than even nature can create - and that's half the fun!
But, the most compelling question for me is: what motivates them to do what they do?
Why do they have no conscience - or better yet - why are they tortured by it... or not?
What are those life changing dilemmas from the past that make someone who seemingly has everything to live for not want to live to see another day? You get the idea.
Gorgeous characters are all well and good - they capture or attention - but its the fatal flaws that make a good character - and therefore, a story - interesting to me. The ultimate dilemma - why do people do what they do?
Every book - even the electronic kind - has a cover that is designed to get our attention. Beautiful pictures, elegant graphics, dramatic colors make us curious enough to pick it up or click on it.
What lies behind the window dressing? The only way to find out is to read the book and discover their secrets.
But... if the secrets in the books you find no longer hold your attention, what do you do?
You let your imagination run amok and write your own!
And that is how I landed here!