Love, Literally

HANK:  Yes, I know it's fiction. But one of the wonderful things about good fiction is that sometimes, it seems real. And my dear pal Jessica Park has done some serious, serious reseach into this realm.

 

 

JESSICA PARK: 

We’ve all had crushes on fictional characters. Swooning, drooling, heart-pounding crushes. It’s particularly easy to pant over a film character, because we have a visual to egg on our lust. I know many a girl who has swooned over Jason Bourne.

Although, let’s be honest, that has more to do with Matt Damon than the character he plays.

But crushes on literary characters are sometimes even more fun. Reading gives us a different perspective on a character, and we get to know our crush on a deeper level. Plus, our own imagination has the freedom to play around with the layers. Yeah, it’s fun.

 

 I did a very formal survey on Facebook. You would not believe the detailed structure of this study, but it was extremely complex and multi-faceted. (Oh, fine, I asked something like, Have you ever had a crush on a literary character?) I put out a ban on “Edward” or “Jacob” as allowed answers. It’s my study, so I can do what I want. Answers included a bunch of Mr. Darcy fans, of course, because what gal hasn’t fallen totally in love with that dashing hero? Surely a few boys have, too, although I’m not sure if Mr. Darcy is a gay icon. Probably. 

  

 Other responses included: Laurie Lawrence (Louisa May Alcott), Gilbert Blythe (Lucy Maud Montgomery), Roarke (J.D. Robb), Painter Crowe (James Rollins),  Joe Pike (Robert Crais), Ramses (Elizabeth Peters), Sean Donahue (Heather Webber), Marco (Kate Collins), Marcus Quinn (Madelyn Alt), Dutch (Victoria Laurie’s Psychic Eye books), and Myron Bolitar (Harlan Coban), Ranger (Janet Evanovich), Captain Wentworth, Henry V.

(HANK: Oh, that was me. Henry V. I'm just saying.)

 

Also one goofy boy offered up Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, but I’m not counting this because it’s abnormal. And throws off the nice curve of hot (and mostly mentally sound) characters.  

 

I’ve always been partial to Sam Gianneli from Linda Barnes’ Carlotta Carlyle series. Really, it doesn’t get much better. Except for one: Lewis Cole from Brendan Dubois’s ( www.brendandubois.com) Lewis Cole mysteries. If you haven’t read these books, you are missing out on one total hottie dream. Dead Sand is the first in the series, so rush out and snag yourself a copy. Cole is a former DOD analyst, with an unexplained past and unexplained scars. He lives in NH and writes for a local magazine--a gig he demanded when he cut a deal to escape his past--and works as a P.I. Basically, Lewis is a babe. Strong, smart, driven, best friends with a powerful mobster… Plus, he’s a romantic at heart, despite his willingness to play the field a bit.

 

 Okay, so we’ve all fallen a wee bit head-over-heels-in-love while reading. What I hadn’t realized until I wrote RELATIVELY FAMOUS (http://yaauthorjessicapark.blogspot.com) was that it was entirely possible to crush hard on a character that I created. I had developed a bit of a crush on Owen from the Gourmet Girl mysteries, but nothing like what I “felt” for the father in my YA book. I didn’t set out to get all giddy and puppy-dog-eyed over Mark Ocean, but it happened. He’s a jerk. Well, initially he’s a jerk. Self-absorbed, materialistic, vain, narcissistic.

 

 He’s so Hollywood-driven, that he’ll use his newly-discovered daughter, Dani, to revive his sinking acting career. He feigns interest in Dani during the few free moments he has while juggling a slew of vapid, bikini-clad twenty-somethings. He’s just loathsome. Sauntering around in front of the paparazzi with a teenage daughter, just to give the impression that he is a devoted family man and deserving of better roles? Ick. He’s vile. And no Brad Pitt-type family man.

 

But then… we start to see that there is much more to this macho cretin. He has a past. Not only is Mark actually an extremely talented actor, but he is capable of meaningful, deep love. Like what he had with Dani’s mother, Leila. With Dani’s forceful nudging, Mark agrees (for the sake of his image) to date an incredibly non-Hollywood type woman, Olivia. Despite his resistance, he falls for her in the most powerful way. As I wrote about Mark’s transformation from shallow, self-serving schemer to deeply invested father and boyfriend, I sorta fell for him.

 

 Weird, huh?

 And somehow silly. I mean, I wrote the guy, for God’s sake. It felt creepy. But at a certain point, Mark began to write himself. He told me who he was, and it was just up to me to translate his character onto paper. What I loved most about him was that he was never entirely hopeless. He had made mistakes and bad choices in his life--which is something we can all relate to--and writing and watching his struggle to let his walls down was very appealing. Even when he was behaving terribly, there were layers of his old self that would seep through, letting me know that there was a really decent, loving guy underneath the superficial smarm.

 

When I finished writing the last chapter, I honestly had tears streaming down my face. I was going to miss him. He started off so smug and over-confident, and ended up open and almost painfully vulnerable. That willingness to put himself out there and embrace the new relationships in his life pulled at my heart. Major crush. Major. I missed him when I finished the novel.

What about you? Have any literary characters made you weak in the knees?

 Jessica Park

 http://yaauthorjessicapark.blogspot.com

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http://whatthekidsays.blogspot.com

 

 

Comments

[Sheila Connolly]

Lord Peter, of course. He had it all. Lucky Harriet!

[Karen in Ohio]

For my money, Emerson is much more attractive than Ramses' callow youth.

[Lori]

Great post Jessica! I always seem to develop a crush on the hunky males in the books I read.

[Dru]

Good post. I love Roarke.

[Mary S.]

Not really crushes, but I do love these:

Campion - kind and super-intelligent but plays dumb to catch the bad guys.

Charles, the friend/love interest in the Mallory books by Carol O'Connell. Similar to Campion but has more emotional depth.

Elvis Cole - immature in the first couple of books but after that, great. I do love those wisecrackers.

Bernie, the down-on-his-luck PI in Dog On It by Spencer Quinn. He's a good crush hunk because he's strong, big-hearted, a good fighter, went to West Point, is an ex-cop, sticks to his morals no matter what, and of course, loves his dog, Chet, who didn't quite make the cut as a police dog. Actually, I think I do have a crush on Chet. He's loyal, works hard, can rescue you when you're in trouble, and almost everything makes him happy. :)

[Jessica Park]

Aw, isn't it fun to have these fictional crushes? And the good news is that we'll just keep getting more and more of them. Plus, we can always go back and visit the old ones!

Thank you to all the ladies at Femmes Fatales for having me!

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Campion, Campion! Of course! Brilliant.

[Carol]

I've been madly in love with (Robert Parker's) Spenser for years. Susan Silverman is one lucky woman!!