We all do it, or at least find ourselves heading that way and do our best to fight that undaunted rearguard action, particularly in public. I weep all too easily, which is allegedly a female thing, I disagree with that conceit, and believe that men feel weepy just as often but have a socially constructed and artificial need not to be seen as weak.

Well, public weepiness is all fine and good if it is in front of passing strangers, but doing it on a transatlantic flight is a tad awkward, for the person witnessing it is there for eight hours and might resent getting splashed. The cause of my weepiness, which I repeated on the way back, was Hollywood. Specifically, two films.

The one on the way out was 'Dallas Buyers' Club'. There is no need to explain what pulled me to the film, but it struck my tear ducts full-on. Fine acting, solid story and the loss of characters you really begin to pray for.

The return film was 'Captain Phillips', and that was just as watery for me, especially one scene with a Navy medic.

I try and make my characters real. The people who made those two films did exactly that for me: gave me real people to weep over and for. Kudos!