So Joe Marleau is named after Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau some of my favourite players from the Sharks organization. They unfortunately underperformed in this years playoffs.
Joe Marleau is the Head scout ( I am sure he has a better title) and was the one who originally found Marcus as a prospect then as a scout.
He has been a fatherly figure in Marcus’ life and is here for Marcus once again when he going through a hard time in his life. Here's a new excerpt from my novel.
When Marcus hit the worst part of his dark years there wasn’t much his friends, or what was left of his family, could do for him. Not that any of them tried very hard. It is in the hard times that you count your true friends after all. There was no Jack James, he was too busy making his millions, Tori hadn’t entered his life, and his parents were not there.
His parents divorced at a young age and after he started junior in the Soo (that’s Sault Ste. Marie for those of you who are not in on the loop) he had minimal contact with his family as his career in hockey progressed and he moved briefly to Worchester. His mom, who contributed significantly to his upbringing, had shut her self off from the world after retiring from firefighting and living with approximately 17 cats and his father had died when he started in the AHL from lung cancer. Not a very tragic death, given that he smoked a pack a day.
No, when Marcus was at the very bottom of the barrel, given up on by all those around him, including his siblings, only one person came to his aide. If Tori had been the one to pull him out of his personal hell, then it was surely Joe Marleau had been the one who given the swift kick in the ass out of it.
Joe Marleau had known Marcus since he was 16 when he met him in Oshawa, when Marcus was playing with Greyhounds in a game against the Generals. Joe, at the time, was the director of amateur scouting for the San Jose Sharks. Joe was the one who had fought fiercely for the Sharks to trade up a couple of picks to get Marcus at the 17th draft position.
Most scouts had Marcus pegged as a late first round pick, if that. They worried about his skating and his shot which had suffered after breaking his wrist when he was 14. But Joe saw something special in Marcus following that loss against the Generals.
I am at 7,114 and I keep having to write about these sadder moments in order to move my characters into position. Tomorrow my story will take an unexpected twist with a death and that should get the ball rolling. Kind of like in Harry Potter.
Thanks for the kind words and support!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Very interesting, Scott. Your novel is coming along swimmingly, as Katie would say. What is going to happen to ruin Marcus' career as a hockey player? And where is Tim O'Shea?
ReplyDeleteA father figure for Marcus... seems intriguing. I'm amazed at how much writing all you young folk are doing... slow and steady is my mantra this year. I guess that's what a FULL TIME JOB will do to one's noveling. :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder why death is such a theme in the novels this year... but I look forward to seeing what happens once you've got the background stuff out of the way!
I know what ruins Marcus' career but I don't know when Tim will make a reappearance. I think it will come sometime later in the novel when all of the top prospects that I talk about get together for a party.
ReplyDeleteI miss your blog... want to hear more!
ReplyDelete