Jessica Topper's Blog - Posts Tagged "hero"
On Writing a Rock Hero
Dear Reader,
Did you know that musicians – like actors and athletes – were long frowned upon as romantic heroes in fiction? Luckily, the rules have loosened and just about anything goes…lucky for me; after marrying into the music business, and working a rock and roll day job for the last decade, music and musicians are what I know!
I call Louder than Love my ‘love, loss and love again’ story, featuring a heavy metal hero with a heart of gold. Adrian “Digger” Graves was conjured up during my morning commute to the local Montessori preschool and back.
Actually, he was more like the lone, brave hitchhiker willing to risk the ride.
We were living near Philadelphia without any family or many friends in the area. My husband was working with two different bands at the time, and was on tour a lot. I was the road widow, the patient mama shuttling responsibly in the Subaru, back and forth. I’d happily play The Wiggles and Sesame Street and Putumayo World Playground CDs to tame the preschooler each morning. Yet guilt and relief would flood me as I’d crank WYSP, Philly’s hard rock radio station, and peel out of the parking lot for those few precious hours of freedom.
Tired, overwhelmed and lonely, I’d alternate between the two seemingly disparate music genres: one that soothed and entertained my child, and the other, more primitive pulse that fed my imaginations and desires. And so Adrian, the recluse shock rocker who gets mistaken for a kiddy musician, rose from the rubble of my tired mommy brain as the perfect hero for my novel. He’s a prep-school dropout, ex-junkie guitarist who quotes Shakespeare, who can wear Armani with the same casualness as motorcycle boots and maybe he can’t remember half his antics of the crazy 80s but he remembers exactly how you take your coffee: with two sugars and a splash of skim.
Why write such a character? Because I love the idea of persona vs. essence.
In writing, there’s much emphasis placed on the two. We break our characters out of the masks they’ve so carefully molded and hidden behind and bring them to their true selves. They may think they know what they want, but until they drop their persona and embrace their essence, they won’t get what they need to be truly happy.
A musician has the option to make and break his persona every night. While on stage, he can be the friend, the lover, the fighter, the brokenhearted – whatever the audience needs him to be. But how about off-stage? Does the persona stay intact; do the walls remain up? As he flees out the backstage door past fans and media, probably. But beyond that? He may love what he does, but the road is a hard life. It’s not always what you’d imagine it to be.
We meet Adrian after he’s had his musical heyday…he’s burned a lot of bridges. What’s it going to take to bring this rock hero full-circle? I hope you’ll check out my labor of love, Louder than Love. And I hope you enjoy the ride!
Peace, love, and rock and roll,
Jessica
*This "Dear Reader" letter appeared in the Sept 2013 Berkley Jove Editors' Newsletter*
Did you know that musicians – like actors and athletes – were long frowned upon as romantic heroes in fiction? Luckily, the rules have loosened and just about anything goes…lucky for me; after marrying into the music business, and working a rock and roll day job for the last decade, music and musicians are what I know!
I call Louder than Love my ‘love, loss and love again’ story, featuring a heavy metal hero with a heart of gold. Adrian “Digger” Graves was conjured up during my morning commute to the local Montessori preschool and back.
Actually, he was more like the lone, brave hitchhiker willing to risk the ride.
We were living near Philadelphia without any family or many friends in the area. My husband was working with two different bands at the time, and was on tour a lot. I was the road widow, the patient mama shuttling responsibly in the Subaru, back and forth. I’d happily play The Wiggles and Sesame Street and Putumayo World Playground CDs to tame the preschooler each morning. Yet guilt and relief would flood me as I’d crank WYSP, Philly’s hard rock radio station, and peel out of the parking lot for those few precious hours of freedom.
Tired, overwhelmed and lonely, I’d alternate between the two seemingly disparate music genres: one that soothed and entertained my child, and the other, more primitive pulse that fed my imaginations and desires. And so Adrian, the recluse shock rocker who gets mistaken for a kiddy musician, rose from the rubble of my tired mommy brain as the perfect hero for my novel. He’s a prep-school dropout, ex-junkie guitarist who quotes Shakespeare, who can wear Armani with the same casualness as motorcycle boots and maybe he can’t remember half his antics of the crazy 80s but he remembers exactly how you take your coffee: with two sugars and a splash of skim.
Why write such a character? Because I love the idea of persona vs. essence.
In writing, there’s much emphasis placed on the two. We break our characters out of the masks they’ve so carefully molded and hidden behind and bring them to their true selves. They may think they know what they want, but until they drop their persona and embrace their essence, they won’t get what they need to be truly happy.
A musician has the option to make and break his persona every night. While on stage, he can be the friend, the lover, the fighter, the brokenhearted – whatever the audience needs him to be. But how about off-stage? Does the persona stay intact; do the walls remain up? As he flees out the backstage door past fans and media, probably. But beyond that? He may love what he does, but the road is a hard life. It’s not always what you’d imagine it to be.
We meet Adrian after he’s had his musical heyday…he’s burned a lot of bridges. What’s it going to take to bring this rock hero full-circle? I hope you’ll check out my labor of love, Louder than Love. And I hope you enjoy the ride!
Peace, love, and rock and roll,
Jessica
*This "Dear Reader" letter appeared in the Sept 2013 Berkley Jove Editors' Newsletter*
