How did I create Denny – my protagonist in the Gangster trilogy?
Denny began as an extension of myself mainly because all the stories in Little Gangsters are true – with a single exception – and most happened to me. I even gave Denny my middle name. That book was to be a stand alone novel and was originally titled; Little Gangsters of 7th Avenue, but Denny had a longer story to tell, so it evolved into the trilogy.
To assemble Denny I took the best and worst of myself and exaggerated both. The abuse he suffered from a drunken father as a child left him filled with self doubt, always feeling lesser-than, never good enough, and filled with a barely suppressed rage against oppressors. At the same time, with his damaged self-image, he developed a twisted idea that he could never aim above his station in life – that he could only be desirable to the broken people in this world and by casting himself in the role of a white-knight he could hold value in the eyes of those around him. It was natural for Denny to become a leader amongst misfits, criminals, and as he refers to himself and his cohort; mongrels. This is reflected in Little Gangsters through his drift away from his friendship with Timothy ‘the perfect boy’ toward Frankie, the boy who dreams only of becoming a gangster and who is destined to be Denny’s life-long partner in crime.
There was also the unexpected blossoming of Denny’s love for Carrie, a literally broken girl who is both beautiful and vulnerable, and who - for Denny - is perfect in her imperfections. Denny’s love for Carrie is one he will hold precious for all of his days, even when his heart is shattered by the inevitable tragedy that is the final curtain for all white-knights.
Denny does his best to model himself on his first mentor; his godfather Al Di Napoli – a man who made every person he spoke to feel like they were the most important person in the world. Because he grew up in a home broken by alcoholism and abuse, Denny is drawn to loyalty, valuing and offering it above all else and that fits with the milieux of the Di Napoli crime family - and it is a family for Denny; an idea he craves above all else.
Though Denny learns to control his childhood rages, they occasionally slip their leash; when trying to beat Freddy Santovich to death in Little Gangsters; the brutality during his fight with Rocco in Bigger Gangsters; the cavalier way he commits murder for hire in Millennial Gangsters.
In all three of the Gangster novels that span forty years of Denny’s life, each holds a central crisis for him and the resolution of each crisis changes Denny profoundly. He is a man who is evolving, growing more comfortable in his own skin, and eventually finds the love and family he has searched for all of his life in the least likely place.
Denny also plays a central role in Gangster's Girl, but that is Jessie's story to tell, and has a cameo part in The Dog Don't Bark, where we meet him during his dark years. For now though, I believe I am done with Denny's story, yet if another sequel does come to fruition in the future, I think it's best to begin that tale with Denny's funeral.
Penticton, BC
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