Going Beyond Bedroom Eyes, or, We All Look The Same With The Lights Out.

I've read a few novels lately where the author seemed to actually forget to describe the heroine. Yep, completely left it to my imagination. I'm sorry, but why did I pay almost $8 for your writing if you aren't going to give me the basics? Let's not foget the hero. There are a lot of tall, dark, and handsomes out there. What makes your guy so different? Perhaps he's a blond (did you know that a majority of bad guys in novels are blond?) or my personal fave, a huge red haired Scot.

As an author, where do you get your inspiration for the way your characters look?

I have a confession to make. I look at porn. No! No! Sorry, but it just seemed like you wanted to read something drastic. Besides, the men in porn aren't exactly hero material. Actually, I scour male modeling sites. In fact, I keep getting distracted as I write this because I'm looking at MaleModel.us Oooh, so yummy. This is a fab site with no registration requirements of freaky pop ups. Clean and easy. Models.com has a way to look for male models of certain ages,but if you have a very specific look in mind, check out New Faces Male, female, height, shape, hair color. It's all there.

Story Casting is a cool way to have your friends, family, Beta readers, suckers you find on the street to give you their 2 pennies on who your characters resemble. It's free to set up your novel on story casting, then search their database for actors to fill in character spots.

What if you are like me, you know, creating paranormal universes? Well, sign up for free catalogs and get your scissors and glue ready, cause it is craft time. Paste your Frankenstein together and hang it up in front of you so that you can have a visual of what they look like, like you would with any photo that seems to be the essence of your character's physical being. It may be a little strange looking, but it works better than a list that reads like a wanted poster.

Pull out a copy of Vogue or other fashion Magazines. This guy, he is my Val (Fae NIghts).Well, except that Val has long, straight, black-blue hair, silver-blue eyes, and has a bit more meat to him. It's the bone structure that I'm getting at.
Thanks to Veronica over at MY LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH FASHION for this hump day hunk.

Morgan, from my novel Fever, is most definitely this guy

Guys are easy. We know what we like. But what about the leading ladies? Mine rarely have anything in common with me. They may be a little curvy, like moi, but Eve (Fae Nights) has kinky black curls, Lily (Immortal Love) has shoulder length ash hair and is petite, and Jessie (Fever) has long blond hair and is all woman. I have a thing for red-heads, as I've always wanted red locks, but it'll take a special character for me to give her that.

So, do you model your characters after you and those you know, search for inspiration through photographs of actors and models, or are they in your head, waiting for their likeness to be painted by your words?