Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Looking for a new muse

by Christie Kelley

I am currently winding my way down on the latest story. Soon revisions will be done and the manuscript will be off to my editor. After which, I'll be back to thinking of a new proposal. I already have some good ideas but I need a muse.

For the last three stories, I have had some beautiful muses. My April release, Something Scandalous, my hero Will was fashioned after Eric Bana. I think he plays a man who wants nothing to do with being a duke quite well.

My October release, Scandal of the Season finally features a secondary character who seems to grow more intense with every book. Jensen Ackels from Supernatural can play a perfect Somerton. And noboy can give a smirk like Somerton.

My untitled work in progress features one of the favorite muses in the lair. Nicholas could only be Hugh Jackman. Yep, he's just about perfect.

So now that I need a new muse, I thought I'd ask for help. I need three good men (oh, doesn't that sound naughty!). Since I haven't written a hero with blond hair yet, maybe I should. Somerton was the closest, but his hair is a little more brown. So for all you ladies who like the blondes, you are going to have to convince me.

I'm really looking for three hardened rakes for this series. Other than Somerton, I haven't written a good rake. I have a few ideas in my head so let me know what you think about these.

Matt Bomer who plays Neil Caffrey on the USA Network show, White Collar. He has gorgeous blue eyes and I think he might make a pretty good rake. What do you think?

Another possibility is James Marsden. He played in 27 Dresses and the X-Men movies. As you can see once again, I go for the dark hair and light eyes. I think I need something different!


So as you can see, I need more ideas. All three men will be hardened rakes, although the maybe the third will be more gossiped about than actual rake. Should I have a blonde? I'm really not sold on that so if you like them, convince me! So give me your bad boys!

70 comments:

Unknown said...

Come to me my darling one!

PinkPeony said...

Hi Christie...I opened up my March "House Beautiful" today to see Jason Lewis in an ad for Charisma bedding. Tall, blonde, sexy and if pressed, I'm sure would make a very dukey duke. I don't know who he is though! Have to look him up. :)

I think he might be a hockey player.

PinkPeony said...

I'm wrong. He's a model/actor.
Another blond is Alexander Skarsgaard..Rupert Penry-Jones?

Unknown said...

I don't go so much for the blonds myself. I prefer the dark hair! Personaly I think George Clooney would make a good rake. I'll have to think on this more.

Minna said...

Well, here are some options:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Capparoni

Gedeon Burkhard:
http://images.google.fi/images?hl=fi&rlz=1G1GGLQ_FIFI261&um=1&sa=1&q=Gedeon+Burkhard

Herreys - Diggiloo Diggiley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTFec_mrD-c

Minna said...

Simon Baker:
http://images.google.fi/images?hl=fi&rlz=1G1GGLQ_FIFI261&um=1&sa=1&q=Simon+Baker&btnG=Haku&aq=f&oq=&start=0


Neljä baritonia-Pop musiikkia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI5V5-zSLr4&feature=related

Neljä Ruusua - Popmuseo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay-7FEK6-kE

Kuorosota 2010// Joensuu - Pohjois-Karjala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUC9J1DYGA

Anonymous said...

Any wonder why I love all your books, I have some major crush on your muses !!

I agree with Minna, I was about to post a pic of Simon Baker too. He could be a perfect blond rake for me. You know the angel look and the cynical, maybe even hedonistic heart.

I'am also a fan of Christian Bale and he definitely got the DARK looks that could make him a fantastic character.

Anna Sugden said...

That's the best excuse for people to send you hunks, Christie! LOL

I loved James Marsden in 27 Dresses - love the twinkle in those eyes.

I'm going through a phase of liking the harder Eastern European look - bring on Viggo, Travis Fimmel (he played in The Beast with the lovely late Patrick Swayze and was a Calvin Klin model) and Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic. All got great smiles and twinkles. Oh, and Goran Visnjic from ER.

I wasn't really a Brad Pitt fan, but as the man ages, he grows on me - again the smile and the twinkle. Must be linked to my love of the old stars like Cary Grant and Rock Hudson.

I still love guys like Jeff Bridges and Tom Berenger and Judd Nelson - though they're a little old now.

On the Irish side, I'm all for Liam Neeson and Aidan Quinn.

And for the Latin element - Jimmy Smits and Rodrigo Santoro (from Love Actually)

So many men, so little time to drool.

Helen said...

Congrats Virginia have fun with him

For a blonde I would say Simon Baker, but seeing as how I watch very little TV I can't think of anyone else at the moment.

I did see Sherlock Holmes and I gotta say as rake material Robert Downey Junior would be good for me although he isn't blonde.

Sorry Christie I am not much help but it is going to be interesting to see who everyone comes up with

Have Fun
Helen

Christie Kelley said...

Virginia, congrats on the GR. Take good care of him today.

Christie Kelley said...

Hi Pinkpeony! I just checked him out and he is one good looking man. I'll have to put him in the running.

Christie Kelley said...

Okay pinkpeony, Alexander Skarsgaard might work. Very nice!

Christie Kelley said...

Virginia, he doesn't have to be blond. I was just throwing that out there since I haven't really written one yet.

Christie Kelley said...

Minna, I have to admit, I'm liking Gedeon Burkhard. Of course, he's not blond!!

Christie Kelley said...

Emmanuelle said...

Any wonder why I love all your books, I have some major crush on your muses !!


LOL, Emmanuelle! I'm just not sure about Simon Baker. I actually have been thinking he might be a possibility.

Christie Kelley said...

Anna Sugden said...

That's the best excuse for people to send you hunks


Shh, Anna, you're on to me! And again, I go through your list and who sticks out to me??? Goran Visnjic! Is he blond? No!!

Maybe I'm hopeless.

Christie Kelley said...

Helen, I'm with you with Robert Downey Jr. I've always thought he might make a great hero.

Deb said...

I think David James Elliot is very goodlooking and sexy and sigh-worthy! (He played Harm on JAG.) DJE smiles with his eyes.

My husband has brown hair and blue eyes. That is a perfect combo to me! ;)

Gannon Carr said...

Christie, I usually don't go for blondes either, but Alexander Skarsgaard would make an excellent rake!

Halle Berry's baby daddy, Gabriel Aubrey is gorgeous, too.

White Collar is one of my fave new shows. I think Matt Bomer is yummy! I'm pretty sure my hubby has figured out that is one of the reasons I like the show so much. *g*

Thanks for the picture of Hugh! He is practically perfect in every way! LOL

Gannon Carr said...

Drew, oh yes...Sean Bean!!

Christie Kelley said...

Hi Deb, just checked out David James Elliot and yum is all I can say. Thanks!

Christie Kelley said...

Thanks for the picture of Hugh! He is practically perfect in every way! LOL

No problem, Gannon. Glad I could make your day. And I think my husband has figured out the same thing with White Collar and Supernatural.

Christie Kelley said...

Drew, I'm having the same problem with blondes. They really just don't do it for me. I may have to give up this idea.

limecello said...

Christie - Love those muses! I was going to mention Matthew Bomer, but you beat me to the punch ;)
Otherwise, my new eye candy crush is Andy Whitfield. <3
For a blond guy... um... what about Aaron Eckhart?
I'll have to think of more later...

Congrats on the GR, Virginia!

Christie Kelley said...

Okay, so I checked out Sean Bean and all I can think of is great villain material.

Christie Kelley said...

Otherwise, my new eye candy crush is Andy Whitfield.

Hmm, limecello, I think I can understand why :)

limecello said...

What about... young Robert Redford? Raoul Bova from the earlier 2000s? Rupert Friend? Richard Armitage? Simon Woods?
Less people agree with this one but... Cillian Murphy?
Alessandro Nivola. Matt Letscher? Sam Jaeger?
Josh Hopkins :D
Rufus Sewell? Also Kevin McKidd.

Young Christopher Plummer? David Boreanaz... Brendan Fehr? Channing Tatum? Ryan Reynolds? He's blond... and hot.

lol and I know he won't work for your historicals [although how cool would it be if you figured out how to incorporate him?] Takeshi Kaneshiro.

... haha and I know this now seems like I watch tons of movies, etc, but I don't!

Trish Milburn said...

limecello, I love Takeshi Kaneshiro. House of Flying Daggers is one of my favorite movies. That boy is verra nice. :)

Anna, as for blondes, have to agree with Ryan Reynolds. There are also Jude Law, Justin Hartley (from Smallville) and Ryan Gosling (from The Notebook).

Christie Kelley said...

Wow, lime, that's a ton of names. Actually, I have been mulling around with the idea of Ryan Reynolds. I might be able to work with him :)

Christie Kelley said...

Trish, thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out more pictures of Ryan Gosling.

Man, what a tough job I have :)

Christie Kelley said...

Drew, I'm not sure about Daniel Craig. I think he is blond or maybe dirty blond.

I swear the blondes I've looked at all have receding hairlines. What is up with that?

Christie Kelley said...

Drew, Josh Holloway is kind of hunky. I'll have to think about him. I don't watch Lost so I haven't seen him before.

Donna MacMeans said...

Christie - I have no suggestions, but I do love your pics! Wait - there's that Brazilian polo player/model - can't think of his name. He smolders well.

Not fond of blondes as heros - why is that? I've met some to-die-for real life heroes that have blonde hair. Maybe it's that ditzy blonde stereotype thing? I like my heros to be intelligent.

Love the inspiration, Christie!

Donna (who actually is blonde ...or was way back when)

limecello said...

Trish, if you like Takeshi, you have to watch the [Japanese] movie the Returner. Srsly.

Christie - well, lol hopefully at least one of those names gives you inspiration! :D

Deb said...

Oh, yes! Young Christopher Plummer and Cary Grant....

Sean Bean was the hero Sharpe in "Sharpe's Eagle", but he did play the bad guy in "National Treasure".

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Jude Law does seem to be a good candidate for a rake. Personally, I'm using Robson Green as the muse for a rake in one of my MS's.

Christie Kelley said...

Donna, I still haven't figured out why I don't go for blondes. I've never thought of blonde men as being ditzy, so I don't have a clue!

Christie Kelley said...

Deb, I'll have to find some old pictures of Christopher Plummer and Gary Grant. I can't quite picture them in their early thirties.

Christie Kelley said...

Hi Julia,

I'll check him out too. I've never heard of Robson Green. Is he an actor?

Trish Milburn said...

limecello, I own The Returner and its soundtrack, which I had to get from Amazon UK. :)

Deb said...

Christie, go back and google images of David James Elliot. There is one of his wife and him renewing their vows and he is in a kilt. Oh, my goodness! (Swooning, here.)

Christie Kelley said...

Deb, I searched and couldn't find that one. I would love to see that one.

Deb said...

David James Elliot images---scroll down to see the pics :)

www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/tvsoapwed/elliot1.jpg&imgrefurl

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

OMGosh, Christie, if you haven't seen Josh Holloway you are MISSING OUT! Get thee to "Lost" girlfriend! Several of my friends and I called him "Angry Dimples" for the first 3 seasons. ;-)

Kevin McKidd is the sexiest red-head I'm seen in a very long time! But I've thought so since I watched the DVDs of the series "Rome." (Thank you, Jo-Mama!)

Jude Law and Simon Baker both seem like excellent rake material to me. But other than Josh Holloway, I gotta say my favorite blond actor is Daniel Craig (shhh! Don't tell Kate!), probably because his coloring is almost exactly the same as my DH. Before I met my DH I used to say, "I don't DO blonds." But he changed my mind...

AC

Christie Kelley said...

LOL, AC. I will have to check out Lost on Netflix.

limecello said...

lol Trish - awesome. I don't have a copy! I should remedy that... :P Also I have a funny story about college when I saw the movie, but after typing it out I realized it's extraneous and awkward and puts people in a "false light." Sad.

But... I don't remember much about the movie :X Just that Takeshi looks *beautiful.*

Janga said...

He's too young for my taste, but Trevor Donovan is blond and gorgeous--and he has a great mouth.

http://greginhollywood.com/saturday-morning-man-trevor-donovan-10989

s7anna said...

I think Thomas Jane is seriously HOT blonde. He was in The Punisher and was oh sooo delicious!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Hey Christy! Love your inspirations!!

Should you have a blond? Well, lots of British men ARE blond, so one of three for you wouldn't be a bad idea. A young Sean Bean would do nicely.

I usually don't use amuse, but go with an image my mind creates. However, with my new WIP, Shemar Moore had filled the bill completely!

Susan Sey said...

Oh, Christie, this is my favorite part. Flipping through celebrity gossip magazines looking for a the face that starts the story.

I'll second whoever said Christian Bale, Josh Holloway and a young Robert Redford. Can I throw in Matt Damon? He's blond sometimes. Sorta. :-)

Good luck! Let us know what happens!

Christie Kelley said...

Janga, I just looked him up. He is definitely on the younger side. Maybe in a couple of years he'd work out for hero material.

Christie Kelley said...

Suz, I didn't use a muse with my first two books. Then a friend of mine suggested doing a collage for each book. I really liked having pictures of my hero and heroine in front of me.

Christie Kelley said...

Susan, I've never used the magazines but I might try that too. It seems like a fun excuse to have to buy them too.

I'm definitely leaning toward Josh Holloway. Oh, darn, I'll have to find more pictures of him.

Christie Kelley said...

s7anna, I've never heard of Thomas Jane but I just looked him up. Wow, he's not bad at all. Is he an actor? If so, what's he been in?

s7anna said...

Hey Christie,
Yep...Thomas Jane is an actor, he was in The Punisher, The Sweetest Thing, & Deep Blue Sea.

Minna said...

Here's another blonde:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Q58PBCRML._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Oh, one interesting bit I recently heard: Finnish actor Irina Björklund plays George Clooney's girlfriend in "The American".


One more blonde: modern talking--you're my heart you're my soul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IbPGxYWS_k

Michael Learns To Rock - The Actor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oox31_B52oo&feature=related

Gazebo - I Like Chopin - Gazebo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grGjD1rTNyg

Anna Campbell said...

Virginia, you were quick off the mark! Congratulations! I hope he's a bit more fun than he was on Valentine's Day! He was an utter pain in the egg box that day!

Anna Campbell said...

Yum, Christie, a post about pretty men. Always works a treat chez Campbell! I agree with you that the light eyes and dark hair thing is a killer winner - a couple of my heroes have fallen into that category. I'm doing my first blond guy at the moment. Guinea gold hair and black eyes - habit keeps making me give him dark hair in the descriptions but I'm determined to break the AC mold!

Christie Kelley said...

Good luck with that, Anna! I'm still leaning toward another dark-haired man.

Nancy said...

Hi, Christie--I'd vote for James Marsden, who's good but consistently underrated. Plus he's cute.

Chris Pine (aka the very rakish Jim Kirk--hi, Joanie!) is sorta blond--lighter in hair, anyway. Chris Hemsworth, who played George Kirk and will play Thor, is blond. Not rakish, though.

Justin Hartley, Green Arrow on Smallville, is blond and plays a guy who's a bit of a rake.

The young Redford was quite hunky.

Virginia, congrats on the rooster!

Pat Cochran said...

My current favorites are David
Boreanaz, Simon Baker, and Matt
Bomer. Auburn hair, blonde and
brunette! Take your choice!

Pat Cochran

Christie Kelley said...

Great suggestions, Nancy. And yes, young Redford was really something!

Christie Kelley said...

Hi Pat, great suggestions.

Nancy said...

Oooh, Pat, Simon Baker! How could I forget about him?!

Gannon Carr said...

You gotta love Josh Holloway--southern drawl, killer dimples all rolled into one very sexy bad boy.

Can you tell I watch LOST?? *g*

Louisa Cornell said...

Virginia! You caught a hunk of burning chicken! Oops! Better not say that. Might scare the chook!

Christie, what a great idea. Shopping for a hero !! Or a rake ! Or just shopping for some EYE CANDY!! I'm up for all three.

LOVE your muses, just like I LOVE your books !! Great choices there. And a lot of great choices listed.

Goran Visnjic is amazing, isn't he? I was looking for just the right photo for the hero of my second book. My CP sent me a photo of Goran and said "This is Tristan." and she was SO right!

Another handsome actor I've always thought would be perfect as an English rake is Roger Howarth. He has acted primarily on soaps, but I saw him live in The Lion In Winter on Broadway and he was INCREDIBLE. Played King Philip of France - one tough role - and just gave me the shivers with his sensuality. Check him out.

Christie Kelley said...

Louisa, I'll have to tell my critique partner you recommended Roger. She is a HUGE fan.

jo robertson said...

Hi, Christie, sorry I'm late stopping by. Yay, Virginia! I think I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to get the wily wooster. He hasn't visited me in a while.

Hmmm, Matt Bomer has my vote all the way, those eyes, yowza!

Louisa Cornell said...

How cool, Christie !! Tell your CP I said she has EXQUISITE taste in men! And RH is even more handsome in person!

Laurie Logan said...

What about David Wenham?

http://www.mrsgiggles.com/hunks/details.php?image_id=720

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&resnum=0&q=David+Wenham&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

I only had time to skim the comments so my apologies if he was already mentioned.

I agree with you. I don't usually go for the blonds but there is something sexy about David and he looks rakish to me. Happy hunting! :)