Just a quick note from the Goddesses, we’ll be announcing the winner of the Napa Wine Box on Sunday, September 6th. If you participated in the Summer Book Club drop-in and see if you won this fabulous prize. Now on with our guest Jessica Park.
Our guest goddess today is Jessica Park. Welcome, Jessica!!
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I’ve been struggling to decide how to categorize the hero from my YA book, RELATIVELY FAMOUS. Lost soul, imperfect, charmer, bad boy…? Yeah, Mark Ocean is all of those.
First of all, he’s hot. A little of that dark-haired Tony Almeida look, combined with the lean…
…muscular build of Sawyer.
Plus, there must be something about the name “Mark.” Mark Ocean’s got that good ol’ tough guy appeal that you can’t help but love. Think Mark Wahlberg, rough and strong, ready to beat up some bad guys and blow sh*t up.
I need a moment. (And, FYI, yes, I realize that young Taylor Kitsch from “Friday Night Lights” is a wee bit young for me. I don’t care, and I don’t want to hear it. The power of denial, my friends, is phenomenal.)
Anyhow, now that I’ve collected myself… More about my book’s hero. Gorgeous B-list actor Mark Ocean’s career is on a downward spiral. The big roles and blockbuster hits are becoming a painful memory. “DNA Gators” was not, ahem, exactly an opportunity to showcase his acting skills. His habit of desperately parading around Hollywood hotspots with “Rock of Love” rejects on his arms isn’t helping his reputation either, and his agent has been on him to revitalize his public image. Preferably with an age-appropriate, non-bikini-clad woman on his arm. Family men do well in this business, his agent points out. Good thing Mark learns that he has a fifteen-year-old daughter, Dani. He invites her to spend the summer with him, but his motives are about giving the industry what it wants and not about connecting with his daughter. Here’s some painful proof:
Mark turned on the tap in his bathroom and watched the cold water fall into the spun-glass basin. I hate this stupid sink, he thought. The basin was nearly flat, and some spray always shot out of the sink. All he had to show for this expensive Spanish design was a permanent puddle on his equally expensive countertops and floor. Mark placed his hands under the tap, enjoying the feel of the water as it cascaded over his palms. He splashed his face repeatedly, cooling himself. He peered intently in the mirror and was pleased to see that he didn’t look any worse since his daughter arrived. Mark had wondered if he might age instantly when Dani got into his limo—a pot-belly forming and hair falling from his head. But, nope, he was as solid and handsome as ever. He pulled up his shirt and flexed his abdominal muscles. Perfect. Mark ran his hands through his hair while he pondered his first meeting with Dani. All in all, it had gone well. What Dani hadn’t known was that a photographer was snapping shots of Dani getting into his limo and then entering his house. The paparazzi had agreed to keep a low profile with the promise that they would get better shots later in the week. He didn’t want Dani to think he was throwing her to the wolves on her first day. Mark had to congratulate himself—who said he couldn’t act?
So he’s a shallow, self-serving jerk? Hunky and reeking of sex, yes, but still a jerk. Not so fast! As the story unfolds, we learn that there is more depth to this hottie. He’s got a past: A history of meaningful love with Dani’s mother and a true talent for acting, both of which he lost over the years. But there is still good in him (note: Excuse me while I barf for having made him sound like Darth Vadar), and time with his daughter uncovers much of the old Mark. The one who was capable of brilliant theater performances, the one who could love without being a complete ass, the one who was grounded and whole. It turns out that despite his plan to use his daughter to bolster his image, he ends up totally falling for this kid.
And he was happy, Mark realized with a start. He was actually happy right now. And peaceful. It was in this moment, with the light so remarkable and Dani so…so there, that he understood that his life wasn’t about pleasing his agent, or the suits from the studio, or even Evan Dodd. Something, or rather somebody, came before everything else. It was suddenly clear that he had a connection with this kid—young woman, really—that made him happy. And she needed him.
Dani even sets up her father with a non-Hollywood (and very quirky) woman, Olivia, and we get to watch Mark transform. Everything awful that he has become is shattered in the wake of his new relationships with Dani and Olivia. He sheds that vile, superficial Hollywood skin and slowly reconnects with the true Mark. That’s what slays me. That’s what makes him a hero. The way he becomes vulnerable, the way he aches to be the man he used to be. The way he struggles and fails, having become so inept at how to be real. We suffer with him as his heart moves in the right direction, but his skill lags behind. He is that lost soul, desperately trying to reconcile the guy he was with the guy he’s become… Mark is not the complete loser that women need to change. That’s a hopeless battle. He’s the man that has become closed off and unavailable, and the women in his life are able to see that there is so much more to him then he has allowed anyone (including himself) to see. His willingness to let those walls come down is what makes him irresistible.
Your Herculean Task:
Who’s your favorite vulnerable hero?
About RELATIVELY FAMOUS: High school freshman Dani McKinley’s world is rocked when she finds out that she is the daughter of B-list actor and notorious womanizer Mark Ocean. Mark is all too eager to get his acting career back on track, so he follows his agent’s advice about cleaning up his image and invites his “new” daughter to spend the summer with him. Armed with credit cards, club memberships, and a new wardrobe, Dani spends the summer navigating the foreign culture of Hollywood. Her new friendss school Dani in everything from attaching hair extensions to managing the paparazzi. She meets Jason, a gorgeous young personal trainer who is easy on the eyes and wildly flirtatious . . . But is this smug hottie the one for Dani? Or will she ignore her friends’ eye rolling and go for Nate, the goofy but sweet surfer? Even tougher than all the new social pressures, is the challenge of trying to deal with her father. What Mark Ocean has in wealth, he sorely lacks in parenting skills. The fatherly interest Mark feigns has everything to do with charming the public and virtually nothing to do with connecting with his daughter. Dani desperately tries to teach her father that being a dad is not just about supplying her with Prada bags and trips to movie premieres, and the result of the clueless actor’s attempts at fatherhood is both funny and heart-wrenching. Follow Dani and Mark while they struggle to figure out what it means to be father and daughter, and as they navigate their own complicated love lives. Humor, tears, heartache, and teen angst will leave you aching to see how their dilemmas are resolved.
About the Author: Jessica Park is the author of five Gourmet Girl mysteries (written as Jessica Conant-Park) and RELATIVELY FAMOUS is her first young adult novel. She grew up in the Boston area and then went to Macalester College in frigid St. Paul, Minnesota. During her freshman year, there was a blizzard on Halloween, and she decided that she was not cut out for such torture. So she moved back to the east coast where, she’d forgotten, it still snows. Oops. She now lives in New Hampshire with her husband, son, bananas dog named Fritzy, and two selfish cats. When not writing, she is probably on Facebook, pining over 80s rock stars or searching for the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts to grab a Coolatta. Oh, and she’s a complete Gleek.
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For more information and chapter excerpts, please visit Jessica! RELATIVELY FAMOUS is available in paperback from Amazon and for the Kindle. It is also for other e-readers through Smashwords, or you can order it through your local independent bookstore. She also has a blog where she details the many interesting and ridiculous conversations with her son. Jessica has a small (Everyone stop laughing!) Facebook obsession.
About Misa
Hi Jessica!! Welcome! We love guest goddesses!!!
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Thank you for having me! I’m such a fan of this site!
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Glad you’re here, Jessica!
This is such a tough question. I hadn’t ever really thought of Rhett Butler as vulnerable, but after reading your post, I totally see him that way. Scarlett beats him down until he’s so stripped that he can’t take any more. He’d be one of my favorites.
Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, definitely. He’s so melancholy and seems so vulnerable even in his quiet strength.
And Dean Winchester from Supernatural. Now he’s tormented, charming, a bad boy, and vulnerable, all wrapped up in a James Dean package.
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Oh my favorite vulnerable baddy/hero is Eric of True Blood. He’s bad to the bone, but he has his soft side, that makes him vulnerable.
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I love the character Colin Firth played in Love, Actually. He was the writer and had this housekeeper/cook who was Portuguese. They couldn’t communicate (but they wound up doing just fine). His stuff went in the water, they said goodbye – I loved all those scenes. Don’t think of Firth as a hunk, but I love his befuddled ways.
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Tonya Reply:
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:10 am
Sharon I forgot all about him being in that movie. I loved when he hunted her down in the restaurant and her father tried to pawn her sister off on him. He was so gracious in that scene!
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Ethan Hawke’s character in Reality Bites, does it for me every time. The movie ends and I yell “WHERE’S MINE?!” at the universe…
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Tonya Reply:
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:09 am
Where is Ethan Hawke these days Carrie? He was so great in the late 80′s early 90′s.
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I love Chuck Bartowski on Chuck. He was stuck in a dead-end job, living with his sister, with sweet, but loser friends. Then Sarah and the whole spy thing happens and Chuck becomes the man he was always capable of being but didn’t know how, all while still keeping his sweetness.
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Tonya Reply:
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:09 am
Jill can you believe I haven’t ever watched Chuck? I KNOW! Everyone tells me that I’d love it. I can catch up with good old Netflix:)
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Yes, it’s those imperfections that make someone totally hot, right? Someone that has it all perfectly together is somehow less appealing. But give a man a good internal struggle, and we all go weak!
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Tonya Reply:
September 3rd, 2010 at 5:08 am
When we do give that hero an internal struggle, we begin to feel bad for him and then start to fall in love with his character no matter how wrong his life has been. Gotta love the mind!
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Colin Firth is Bridget Jones – he was vulnerable when with family. Maybe Hell Boy is more fitting for this though. A vulnerable bad boy. Gets me every time.
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Oh Margaret! I have to agree Colin Firth is my hero in all his movies. I love him from Bridget Jones to Pride and Prejudice!!
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Great post JP
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Me, too, on Colin Firth! LOVE him in P&P. Love, Actually, Mama Mia, What a Girl Wants…in EVERTYHING!
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I’ve never even HEARD of Chuck.
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Oh, my mother loves Colin in P & P! And, yep, Tanya, I always love that mix of strength and vulnerability. I suppose we have that “I’ll rescue him” element sometimes, huh? Although I hate to admit it…
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And what DID happen to Ethan Hawke? Lord, that boy was a beaut…
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After Ethan and Uma divorced, he kinda fell off the earth…hmmm….
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Although he DID make an appearance on an episode of “Alias” as, I think, sexy badass twins! And speaking of “Alias,” Michael Vartan is nothin’ to snort at. I loved him as Vaughn. Loved. Him. There is a totally vulnerable hero for ya!
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I didn’t like Mark Ocean when the book opened but grew to like him as he grew to love his daughter.
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Yes, exactly, Dru. Mark was intentionally dislikable in the first third or so of the book. But as he started to regain some of the old pieces of who he was and also learned what it meant to love his daughter, Dani, he became so much more appealing. During one scene, he ferociously protects Dani from the paparazzi, and I just loved “watching” him finally show that powerful parental force!
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Jessica, I started not to comment on this post because I didn’t think I had anything to offer, but after another cup of coffee, I’m game.
I think I’m hearing that women are attracted to men who balance strength with vulnerability, qualities with frailties, etc. [ In both fiction and in real-life, I suppose. ] The problem comes in timing.
What if the significant other is a child when you need him to be mature, he’s whining when you need him to be decisive, he’s a weakling when you need him to be strong / courageous? Timing.
And I thought my ‘take’ might make more sense if I flipped the coin: what do men look for in female heroines / significant others (both fiction & real life)? Well, most of us want a mate, but not every minute of every day. Most want a woman who’s as fierce as a lionness if her cubs are threatened … but purring like a beautiful ‘kitten’ in black lace [excuse that image] when it’s time for romance. But we DON’T want an emotional wreck like Maggie the Cat (of ‘Tin Roof’ fame). But here’s the rub: many typical female humans may possess any or all of those — and more — at any given point. Do you get the one you want when you want her? Maybe not. Timing.
Flip the coin back. Most men are the same way: they usually bring more to the table (or less … maybe a lot less) than you want at that point. [Or they show up at the wrong table altogether!]When you write your flawed-but-ultimately loveable heroes, you want to make them ‘real’ enough that they reflect life … but they have to be better than that to attract a reader because she logically wants a bit MORE than real life.
I face the reverse problem when I write my heroines in my five novel manuscripts.
I’ve rambled. I should’ve just lurked. I’m a newbie in this dance … please excuse me if crunched anybody’s toes.
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No toes crunched! Yes, when it comes to fictional heroes, we want what we want when we want it! The trick is to understand that real life differs from fiction, and you need to make smart choices for yourself. But even in real life, people have many sides to themselves, so it’s a question of finding the right match/blend with the right partner.
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