The other day, I was sent some interview questions for a guest blog I'll be doing in a couple of weeks (Aunty squees with excitement). One of the questions was: Do you base your characters on real people or are they purely figments of your imagination?My first reaction was of course they are TOTALLY made up from my imagination. But then I realized that's not exactly true. So in order to honor the "truth in lending" law... No wait! That's not right! So in honor of honesty being the best policy- -yes, much better!- - Aunty will reveal some of the real people whose names or traits wound up in characters in The Wild Sight.
- The hero's older sister, Doreen. Okay, might as well
start with the obvious! I have three younger siblings. It was my duty as first born to see that they did not run amuck too terribly much. THEY called me bossy (I suspect they still do), but I was merely doing my duty and trying to look out for their best interests. It was only natural that I give my hero's older sister some of these same wonderful traits. - Doreen's husband, Sean. My DH has a cousin in Northern Ireland named Sean (imagine that!) who is a sweet and charming man, and definitely influenced my creation of this character.
- PSNI Inspector Colm Lynch. When I first went to work for the Department of Health Services lo these many years ago, my boss's boss had the last name Lynch. He was a big, beefy man with white hair, but I swear all resemblances end there!
- The heroine, Rylie is a petite, sassy young woman
with the tenacity of a bulldog. One of my beloved nieces happens to be 4' 10" and a size two, with quite a mouth on her (can't imagine where she got that trait), but the resemblance ends there. She is a couple of years younger than Rylie and does not have blonde hair or gray eyes. There is, however, a certain pointy-chinned young actress who has portrayed several sassy characters in films that provided much inspiration for Rylie. - The hero, Donovan is one of those strong, rather silent
types who does not like to talk about himself nor his feelings. Gee, has anybody EVER met or known a guy like that? (To quote Craig Ferguson, "Remind you of anyone?") ME TOO! I even married a guy like that... AHEM! But Donovan's interest in art is definitely rooted in my DH and his artistic endeavors. And yes, there is a certain tall and lean Aussie actor who provided some physical inspiration for Donovan. But you already knew that Aunty likes 'em tall and lean. ;-)
What about you? Have you ever read a book and thought you recognized one of the characters? Or certain aspects of a character? If you are a writer, do you base your characters on "real" people? Bits and pieces maybe? C'mon now, honesty is the best policy!
56 comments:
What?! Can it be?
Ooh, what a fun post, AC! How neat to hear about some of the little inspirations for some of your characters! I'm not a writer, and don't have close enough relationships to any (yet?) that might allow me to recognize any real-life connections in their writing.
And yes, Hugh is dreamy!
Fedora!
This JUST CAN NOT BE!!! 3 Days in a row must be some sort of record!
I am beginning to suspect collusion betwixt you and the GR -- devilish fowl that he is!
AC
Actually, it's simpler than that--I really need those van keys back ;) He'd better cough them up today or I'll let the kids catch him later...
Oh, man, I think you two ought to make it legal, Fedora! Clearly, he's given up his roving ways and settled on the girl for him! Your kisses must taste like Tim Tams!
AC, what a lovely post. It's funny, I don't often use real people as the direct inspiration for characters. But I think everything I've ever experienced, including human nature, feeds into my books. And then there's the little threads of gold you pick up. I had a Lebanese friend at university who was called Julianne. Her parents wanted to call her Soraya but decided she'd fit in better in Oz as Julianne. Both of us mourned the lovely name she missed out on. So one day I needed a glamorous name for a woman pretending to be an Arabian courtesan. Soraya was the obvious choice. I still think it's a lovely name. Kylemore I thought I'd made up - until someone pointed out to me that Kylemore Abbey is a stately home on the west coast of Ireland and yes, I'd driven past it and been most impressed. So it's weird how things sit in the back of your head and then come out to play when you need them.
Hey, AC, are you getting excited? Only a few weeks and THE WILD SIGHT is on the shelves! Whoooo-weeeeee!
As for dreamy Hugh...
I know I'm weird, but one of the things I find the most attractive about him is his obvious devotion to his family. A man capable of true and lasting commitment is REAL hero material in *my* book.
AC
You are sooo right, Fo.
Everything gets stirred into the stew of our imaginations. I hadn't thought about Mr. Lynch the chief of A&I when I originally wrote Inspector Lynch (Lynch is a very common name in the north of Ireland), but about half way through the first draft I realized the inadvertent resemblance. ACK!
and EXCITED?!?! MOI?!?!
18 MORE DAYS!!! We are down to the TEENS!!!
AAAACCCKKK!!!
AC
flchen I hope he coughs up those keys for you or maybe it might be a good idea to let the kids get them LOL
Great post Aunty Cindy countdown to The Wild Sight is really on now you must be getting excited I know I am I have it orderd from Rendezvous.
I must confess that I love reading a good book and seeing my name or someone eles that is close to me it is just a good feeling. I have read a few books that have had Helens in them but they have never been the main character although I am reading His Captive Lady by Anne Gracie at the moment (and loving it)and the Heroines name is Helen but she is called Nell most of the time in the book. I do often think that some of the characters in a book that I am reading often have the same personality as people I know.
It is really good hearing about who you kinda based your characters on I always find this information very interesting and Donovan sounds wonderful especially if you were thinking along the lines of High Jackman. I am sure I will click with Doreen as well I too am the eldest of 4 children and know exactly how you need to keep younger siblings in line especially when you have to babysit them.
WAY TO GO 22 days and counting down
have Fun
Helen
Fun post AC!
Let's see...I definitely modeled Aunt Eugenia in The Trouble with Moonlight on an English friend of mine (no, not Anna *g*). My friend calls everyone "deah". Anyway, I just thought about how she would reply to bits of dialogue and Aunt Eugenia was born.
In Seduction of a Duke (to be released in April) I based the heroine on Consuelo Vanderbilt - not that I've met her, she'd be a bit before my time - but on her story & biography. I've changed her enough to fit my story so only her backstory would make her recognizable now.
But you're right - all our life experiences seem to meld together into our characters. I wonder if anyone I know can see themselves in my books?
Donna
Another book from you in April great a birthday present for me
Have Fun
Helen
Donna, have you read Consuelo's autobiography? It's amazing, isn't it? A world that's disappeared. Part of my courtesan fascination stemmed from her description of the grandes horizontales (isn't that a fabulous phrase?) in Monte Carlo in the gilded age. It belonged to the grandmother of a flatmate and looked very dusty and boring but I picked it up out of curiosity one day and was hooked.
LOL, Helen!
I know what you mean. I got a REAL KICK out of Donna's heroine in The Trouble With Moonlight being named Lusinda!
And that picture I put on the blog looks just like my siblings as children. My sister had blonde curls and my brothers were always sparring, verbally and physically. :-P
AC
They say good things come in three's, Fedora. Whoooopppeeee on taking the guy home again. Are you sure there isn't some sort of hankey-pankey going on?
Delightful post, AC! I'm always curious about where writers get their characters from. One of our recent guest-writers said that the first things she has to do in one of her books are have a title and have a picture of her hero.
I like using family members' names in my book. In fact, tonight I told my grandson "Jake" that my new hero is called -- ta ha! Jake! He got quite a giggle out of that.
Loved hearing about your process with characterisation, AC. How cool to name characters after real people. I haven't done that but it's a lovely idea. I honestly can't think of anyone I've based a character on, but I'm sure there must be.
Oh, I tell a lie. My hero for my next novel looks exactly like the boy I took to my formal. (Yes, I chose him mainly because he looked like a Regency hero, though at the time I thoughtI was smitten. Shallow? Moi?) Of course, my hero is a lot older but he has the same look. I'd forgotten all about that. Hey, AC, I hope there's a disclaimer about all characters being fictional in your book or you might open yourself to defamation suits!
Fedora! How many times is that???
I try not to - unless there was just something so unusual or quirky about them that I had to use it. Otherwise, I try to make them indistinguishable from real people. I have enough drama in my life!
Loucinda - Congratulations on the near release date of Wild Sight, I'm looking forward to reading it.
I love hearing the 'behind the scenes' of a writers' process. I'm so fascinated with how authors 'merge' their real lives, fantasy lives and imagination with their writings.
I'm not an author, however when I read a book that reflects some parts of my life or I relate to a character because they embody some of the traits of people I know - or even better - ME, I feel a special connection to the book. Finding bits of my life in the books I read gives me the 'ah ha' moments that make that book one that I either 'clutch to my chest' or very sigh worthy. Yes?
Hmmmm, have you actually seen the van flchen1?? You might get the keys back but that won't help if the van is destroyed... er commandeered.
I am still trying to get to my tbr pile and Aunty's Wild Sight is going to add to the height.
I have "recognized" people I know in books but not usually the whole person if you know what I mean. I have some really cool cousins that could have been the heroines in several books I have read. Feisty bunch of women in my family. There has also been a couple of very pragmatic heroines I could have claimed to know. Since there is very little chance the author knew these same people it was just the luck of the draw that I recognized people I knew.
AC, great post. I loved to read about your characters and where some of their characteristics came from.
I don't intend for any of my characters to really be like anyone I know. But I do think it happens subconsciously. My husband has read some of my writing and said he knew who that character was modeled after.
I can't wait to read The Wild Sight!!
Bits and pieces, most definitely. Sometimes just an expression a character uses is 'borrowed' from someone I know -- or maybe I just overheard it. (What! You think writer's don't eavesdrop?) But when I borrow a name, I do my darndest to make sure that character is nothing like the person whose name I've borrowed. Which is why, despite her asking, I won't name a character after my daughter. Because it wouldn't be her, but everyone would think it was. (We compromised, and the heroine's daughter in my December release has the same nickname.)
FEDORA!!! What is going on?? Of course I completely understand the need to get the keys from our feathered friend! Given the opportunity he will disappear and may take pets and/or children with him! Keep an eye on him!
Aunty Cindy, I am getting so excited for you!! Less than three weeks! YAY!!
I love your thought processes in naming and designing your characters. I tend to agree with LaCampbell. While I don't think I have consciously named or characterized people in my books after people I know, I am sure there are people I have met in my 50 years (damn, I'm old!)who have shown up in my writing in bits and pieces.
Actually I am more likely to name my animal characters after animals I have known and I am sure their personalities have followed suit. Dash, the hedgehog in The Raven's Heart is named after a real three-legged hedgehog I knew. And the Dash in the book definitely has the same curmudgeonly character as the one I knew!
Fedora, well done..is that a record 3 days in a row!...hey try for a 4th...excellent!
Aunty Cindy...I love Reece W. she is a lovely actress! perfect if one needs a feisty lady in a book, I have no trouble imagining her and Hugh in a clinch!
Anna...wasn't there a Princess Soroya about 30-40 yrs ago...ummm married the Shah of Iran or something (then I google and ...now that was straight out a Romance Novel...
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2742/is_377/ai_n25004352
Wow she was gorgeous...and actually just as I remembered ...you will too Aunty C. ...you and I are closer in age I think than your sisters in Print and others soon to be!!!(in print that is!)
What a wonderful blog this is to bring back these lovely memories !
Cheers all Carol
hi AC! Cool post. I am always terrified that I'm unconsciously putting people from my life into my novels and after a book is published someone will be absolutely pissed because they won't like what they see!! :-) So I actually try not to do this...
BUT in my YA, I did allow my incredibly cool cousin to shape my heroine. My cousin is very shy and refuses to talk about herself, but at the same time is an incredible performer and dancer, so she has people staring at her all the time. I loved the contrast of the person who doesn't want the attention whose gifts bring them the attention, and seeing the way they deal with that. And then there's her really unusual but absolutely gorgeous looks -- she's half Irish, has white-girl Afro curls like you can't believe that are white blonde, and she's got huge blue eyes that are really wide set, and very pale Irish skin. She's glorious.
WHOOT for The Wild Sight!!! I can't believe it's almost here! And I really need to answer that email so we can lock in your blog date on the pirate ship. Shall do that today.
My characters have so far not been based on real people except the physical traits of my hero. But what I find is that I create a character and looking back see traits of people I know. So as LaCampbell mentions, these things seem to get weaved in subconsciously.
My first instinct is to say I've never recognized a character as someone I know, but that would mean I remember all the characters I've read and I don't. So I probably can't say that. But I can say that right this minute, I can't think of any. :)
So, Fedora, where are you going on the honeymoon? LOL!
Morning AC! Fedora, the GR again?!
I was reading the manuscript of A HIGHLANDER FOR CHRISTMAS for my CP, Sandy Blair...and I ran across the passage, "the dark haired curvacious nurse with the windsome smile"...stopped me dead in my tracks. I of course called Sandy and asked...uhm did you just put me in this book? She laughed, and said "yes!". So in the actual book, she even gave her my name...nurse Suzy!! What a hoot is that?
Hi, AC! Can't wait to find Wild Sight on the shelves after reading this post!
As for my own process, I have to say that I rarely draw inspiration for a character from a real person or celebrity. But I do often find that I save up little phrases I hear that tickle me & give 'em to my favorite characters. It's nothing big, usually. One of my sisters once famously declared olives to be unworthy of the label 'food.' I thought that was funny. Rescinding a food's "food" status when it offends you. So I gave the line to a character when the moment presented itself. It gave my sister a kick to see her opinion in print, especially when the character asserting it was clearly NOT her.
This question does, however, give my family some pause. How much of us, they wonder, is IN there?
Just the funny stuff, I tell them. And you'll have to dig for it if you want to find it.
And yes I've used real people for characters.
In my small town series, I had a nurse named Harriett. She was based on a nurse I worked with who never got excited and was a woman of few words, most of them precise and to the point. She said STAT twice in 7 years and meant it both times!! So, the character Harriett drove the fill-in doctor crazy!
In the same series my heroine had to come to terms with her mother's beginning symptoms of Alzheimers. While I understand and sympathize with how devestating this is (My uncle currently has this and it's very sad to see how debilitating it can end up being), we've always dealt with it by having a good sense of humor. My uncle was a horder, (not the keeps too many nicknacks around, but the buys every pair of white patent leather shoes SAMS has at $0.50 a pair kind of horder) and my grandmother tended to set the kitchen on fire when left to fix my grandfather his lunch, I combined those traits in my character. My mom recognized them both right away and was honored.
Then there was the case of the missing friend in one book. The heroine is trying to recreate her friend's date planner from memory. As she writes down her weekly appointments, she realizes, "Weekly hair appointments, massages, pedicures and manicures, Heather was a high-maintenance woman," which made me stop typing since I realized I'd just described my friend Andrea. She laughed when I told her this and that later she would be the dead friend.
Fedora. What color IS your van?
One just zoomed by the house here in Kentucky. It was loud but I did hear crowing and I THOUGHT a shout of "Road Trip!"
Anyway, AC I cannot wait for Wild Sight to come out! I've been yearning for it since reading the excerpt on your website.
I don't think I concisously use people I know when I write. If I did it would have to be subconcious insertion of traits rather than verbateum...don't know a lot of ancient Romans in my day to day :-)
LOL, Suz on the nurse who said "stat" twice in 7 years.
I don't really recognize characters in books at someone else. And in my WIP, the main protagonists and antagonists are completely original, as far as I can tell. They're not based on anyone. However, there is a sort of peripheral character in the thing that's kind of a conglomeration of most of my buddies all kind of rolled up into one guy. And this guy just takes a life of his own when I'm writing scenes including him. I find him hilarious.
How weird is that? To laugh at things your character says just like he's some comedian in a stand-up routine? HE'S ME. I'm writing his lines. Is it horribly narcissistic to laugh out loud at things he (who's really me) says?
Good lord writing is weird.
Hi Aunty!!! Surprise! I'm poking my head out of the cave to say hellooo! My goodness, it's bright out here. Will somebody bring me my Prada sunshades...ah, thank you, Pedro. And a Mai Tai, too? Mmm, you're very sweet...
Fedora! Is there something you'd like to tell us? My dear, you have feathers in your hair. They suit you, actually. Hmm.
Aunty, I confess there are a number of characters in my mystery series who come from real life. My protagonist's mom is a bit like my own mother, although I doubt she'll recognize herself. And I think most of the Banditas will easily figure out who my British commander hero is drawn from. *g* And the villain in book one is someone I used to work for. I still get chills. ::shiver::
Love that shot of Hugh, by the way! :-)
Now it's back to the cave for me!
I love reading a book where I think "I know someone *just* like that!" And then there are the books where the author holds a contest and a participant becomes a character in the book. That is either fun/weird- often a mix of both. Writing wise... I can see how people the author knows, or certain traits make it into a character- or situations! After all, realistic characters are a good thing!
Hey Jo-mama, you were up late!
You KNOW how title "challenged" I am, so luckily I don't have to have that in place or I'd never get anything written! I'm more like certain other Banditas *KOFF--FoAnna--KOFF* who give their wip a 'nickname' instead of a title. We won't mention what she called "Tempt the Devil!" And neither will we mention what I called my newest wip yesterday, though it did contain the words "mess" "kiss" and a common Irish euphemism for a body part. :-P
AC
Your prom date, Madame? I hope he wasn't as bid a cad as one of MY prom dates! :-\
And of course I can honestly claim that "fictional" disclaimer. There are only bits and pieces, plus very few of those people named will ever read the book. I'm sure my son will never read more than the page or two his particular character is on, but he is NOT my target audience! And I'm sure if he happened to start reading the "naughty bits" he'd throw the book down with an "EWWW! TMI!!!"
P226 said:
How weird is that? To laugh at things your character says just like he's some comedian in a stand-up routine? HE'S ME. I'm writing his lines. Is it horribly narcissistic to laugh out loud at things he (who's really me) says?
Good lord writing is weird.
Ah. Welcome to our world young writer. ;0)
Now you know why we're all so wacked and hang out together on blogs.
Thanx Marisa, Dianna, Helen, Terrio and everyone for adding TWS to your TBR piles! I truly hope you enjoy it as it was very much a "book of my heart" to write.
I was hesitant to put pictures of Reese and Hugh on the blog because they were really just starting points for the main characters and not how I wound up picturing them once I was into the story. Also, I know a lot of readers are like me and want to carry around their own private image of the characters, not shoe-horn them into a celebrity image.
Marisa, I agree with you that as a reader, I want to identify the characters with myself in some ways. That does make the story memorable, just as giving them traits a 'real' person would have makes them seem 'real.' It's a balancing act, that's for sure!
AC
LOL, Cassondra!
You stole my thunder. I was going to tell p226 that laughing (or crying) with your own characters (who are you in a way) is neither narcissistic nor weird. That's just how it is with writing!
Scary... maybe. But you get used to it, esp. when you have great writing friends who are exactly the same!
Welcome indeed grasshopper-writer!
AC
Christie, Joanie and Louisa,
I do think the 'borrowing' is more often subconscious than purposeful. As several others have alluded, everything we see, hear (okay, Terry eavesdrop!) and experience might one day end up in something we write.
LURVE your bit about the 3-legged hedgehog, Louisa! Who could resist a character like that?!?! I haven't put any of my pets into a book yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before I do. That's just how it is when you write! Are ya listening, p226?
AC
Suz, when I read that passage in A HIGHLANDER FOR CHRISTMAS (great book, btw!) I totally recognized that nurse was YOU!
I do have a nurse in TWS who is a composite of several nurses I know and worked with (and even supervised) over the years. I'm SURE none of them will think SHE is Mrs. Kathleen Garvey. T.hee. ;-)
LOL Smoov on leaving your family wondering if they are included.
I had lunch with a group of my former employees not long after I sold, and one particularly arrogant P.I.T.A. asked me when I was going to put HIM in one of my books. I looked him square in the eye and asked, "What makes you think I haven't already?" I KNOW he's going to buy the book just to check. muahahahaha!
Dianna and Kirsten, your family members sound like GREAT fodder for characters! I may have to borrow a little bit here and there myself...
SUBCONSCIOUSLY, of course!
AC
What fun, AC, to know how you came up with your hero and heroine.
I started to say "I never do this."
But then I remember after finishing my first manuscript and reading over the first draft I went "Oh, Sh*T!" because I recognized that the villain looked exactly like someone who hurt me when I was a little girl. Even his name was similar. While I was writing, I had no idea. I dreamed the two main characters and I can honestly say I'd never seen or known either of them before.
It's this thing that Fo mentioned--driving by the Kylemore place in Ireland, then later, putting it in a book and not remembering where it came from--which scares the hooey out of me actually. I'm really afraid of borrowing accidentally--which is why I never read contemporary while I'm writing contemporary. I'm scared to death that some writer will come up later after I'm published and go...uh...that GREAT line on page 164?.....uh...Yeah...I WROTE IT IN MY BESTSELLER FOUR YEARS AGO!"
This is a little silly, but it is something I worry about. On the other hand, I carry a little notebook around to write down stuff I see--names of places that I know I'll never remember later when I need a good name for a place to combine with something else. I also, once I've got the concept of characters...go out and just watch people...I watch mannerisms and I listen to their expressions and like someone else said...their "sayings." Their slang--all of that.
So what I SHOULD say is that I never do this PURPOSELY. But of course I do it. Otherwise all my characters would sound the same. :0/
Kate!!!
So nice to see you poking your head out of the cave even for a moment. You look so pale and wan m'dear! We need to send Lars down there with a tanning lamp! I hope your giant economy size blender is holding out. Are you down to Mai Tais? Does Aunty need to bring back some replenishment stock of tequila from Mexico? Well, no sacrifice is too great for the betterment of the Lair!
Yes, it is sooo much fun to give villains the traits of ex bosses, boyfriends, husbands... not that *I* would ever do such a thing! heh heh heh
Limecello, okay which is it? Weird or FUN to have a contest where the winner is a character in a future book, usually a murder victim? Aunty needs to know because she is contemplating such a contest. But not if it would squick my readers out!
Thanx for the link Carol! And yes, Aunty is OLDE! LOL! So old that I've asked my son to start lying about his age. Even if people DO believe me when I say I had him at 12, given his real age, that is STILL OLD! :-P
AC
Fedora, you may want to have some security experts come in and clear your house for bugs (the kind that listen--not the kind that are creepy crawly) and cameras.
Three days with the bird is it? Not a good sign.
Aunty Cindy, keep your riding crop handy. We may have to do a rescue if we don't hear from Fedora at regular intervals!
Cassondra, I think we ALL worry about that subconscious borrowing, because so much of what we do is in our mind, where the conscious and subconscious often blend into each other.
Just WRITE IT, Bandita! The details will iron themselves out. Aunty guarantees it! :-P
Okay, everyone, I wasn't kidding about the trip to Mexico. We are leaving TOMORROW! EEK! And I have not yet STARTED to pack! ACK!!! So I'm afraid I must leave you to talk amongst yourselves for awhile. I will try to check in at least one more time before nightfall here on the West Coast.
AC
Goodness, Carol! I'd never heard of her and that story IS straight out of a romance novel (perhaps a Danielle Steel because of the tragic aspects). Did you find a photo? Here's one:
http://hotelsoftheworld.com/switzerland/in-palace-stmoritz/soraya-young5.jpg
Wasn't she stunning?
Hey, Aunty Cindy! Happy Travels!
I almost forgot! I actually am a very minor character in a book by Kathy Love. I think the character is on maybe one or two pages at most.
Except I'm really not a doctor :)
Joan, our van is that dark red color--did you catch a glimpse of one? Still no keys, but after a morning of hauling recycling to the kids' school, the GR seems oddly quiet. Crossing my fingers that he's too tired for additional mischief...
Have a wonderful time Aunty Cindy relax so as you have lots of energy for the big release day
Have Fun
Helen
I couldn't wait to get home and se who got the gr, Wow Fedora, you got quality time with him, lol.
Carol and Fo,
OMG! She was BEAUTIFUL! Kinda resembles Elizabeth Taylor at that age. WOW!
And too funny about how YOU came up with the name Soraya, Fo. I actually think Julianne is a nice name for a contemporary heroine. I may have to use it one of these days. :-)
AC
Christie,
Are you trying to say you're not really a doctor, you just play one in a romance novel?
LOL!
Seriously now, what do you all think about having a character named after you? Is it FUN or WEIRD?
AC
Fedora,
The GR too tired for mischief?!?! You MUST be joking!
I think you need to take Cassondra up on her advice about security cameras!
Never fear, my crop is READY! Joanie, call out the gladiators and cabana boys for a possible rescue mission!
And all joking aside, I do hope we hear from Pat and all our other readers down in the Gulf Coast area, and that everyone is safe and fine.
AC
Still doing laundry...
Thanx to everyone for their comments today!
Fedora, I hope you got your van back and kept that bird in line.
Aunty will be incognito for the next 10 days, and will therefore have to turn the crop over to... DONNA! I don't think she's had it before, and needs the chance to keep more than just our financial statements in line. :-)
Play nice in the Lair whilst Aunty is gone. Remember I'm bringing back TEQUILA, so I expect this place to be... still standing when I return!
Wish you were all going with me, but then I don't think the cruise line is ready to deal with the lot of us. ;-)
HUGS TO ALL!
AC
AC, have an absolutely fabulous trip! We'll be missing you the entire time, of course! As for the GR, he's playing MarioKart with the kids right now; no telling what he'll be up to later. We've recovered one set of keys, but no sign of the other yet... no telling what might happen if he gets away later!
Congrats Fedora!!
Looks are the easiest. I need something tangible to look at in order to imagine the hero and how he moves, the heroine, too, but the man especially. I haven't been around large men, so it's hard to write them.
However, personality-wise, I adopt bits here and bits there, but mostly I make them up. Not particularly, because I'm trying to shelter someone and not expose them, but because, it doesn't fit the story or it's more fun and free to make up someone from scratch rather than get pigeonholed into someone from real-life.
Aunty Cindy and Anna... I actually remembered her, ...must have been the Princess thing, photo's in the Australian Womans Weekly...and yes she was just so lovely!
I know you had the name/char in your book Anna, but Verity took over and left Soroya behind...
Cheers Carol
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