When I set out to write my newest Blaze, I hadn't intended to put Clint Eastwood and Reba McIntyre together. It just sort of happened.
You see, I knew my hero had to be Harry Callahan (aka "Dirty Harry"). I love the strong silent types, the ones who don't speak often, but when they do, it's something good like, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" So when I came up with an idea for the story and decided the hero should be a cop...well...it just had to be Clint.
Then I went to work on my heroine. I toyed with a number of places she could be from, and I ended up wanting a country-ish type cowgirl. Calamity Jane wasn't far from my thoughts. Unfortunately, Calamity Jane is a little over the top, so I settled for a spunky Texas redhead who needed to be at least a foot shorter than Clint, because...well...that's just the way ideas happen. And the woman who kept repeating in my mind was Reba.
Note, that I don't own any Reba McIntyre records, nor have I ever seen the TV show she did for a while. In fact, now that she's my heroine, I want to stay as far away from the real Reba as possible, so as not to taint my source of inspiration.
But yes, between now and my 5/1/08 due date, on my wall of inspiration is a photo collage of Cint and Reba, and thanks to this book, I'll probably never look at either of them the same way again.
So here's my question for you: As writers, do you ever use real people to spark ideas for your story? What's the oddest combination of celebrities you've put together? And as readers, do you ever envision actual people when you're reading a book?
I recall reading one novel where the author mentioned the hero looked like Brad Pitt. From that point on, the hero was Brad Pitt. Of course, that was before he went all weird on me and married Angelina. I've sort of lost it a little for him now. Like he's joined a cult or something. Which is, I guess, a risk a writer takes when they put actual people in the thoughts of their readers.
Hmmm....maybe I should be keeping this Clint and Reba thing to myself....
Lori
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST, Harlequin Blaze, April 2008
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Celebrities....
Hmmm...Modeling characters after celebrities. I don't know that I've ever done that conciously. In my Nano novel back in November, I had a character that I modelled after Maureen O'Hara and well she became Maureen O'Hara in my mind.
I can't wait to read yours when you're done.
Laughter is an instant vacation- Milton Berle
What I like about books is
the way I can imagine what the H and h look like. Sometimes in my mind they don't look anything like their "real" description in the book. This is what I HATE Hate hate about movies. For example, I loved the book, "Interview with a Vampire", but I really hated the casting. In my mind, Louis was more like a male ballet dancer, more slender and lithe than Brad Pitt with his borad face and broad shoulders. And Tom Cruise as LeStat. Hello Central Casting. Too much Risky Business and not enough lion in that boy.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
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I know what you mean about
I know what you mean about movies missing the mark because of bad casting. I've had that happen even when I hadn't read the book.
Although, now that you've made me think about it, I can't come up with a solitary example!
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST, Harlequin Blaze, April 2008
UNLEASHED, Harlequin Blaze, November 2008
FAST AND FURIOUS, Free eHarlequin On-Line Read, February 2009!!
Visit me at www.sizzlingpens.blogspot.com or my web www.loriborrill.com
I am not a writer....
But when I read books, I often cast the characters in my head...It helps to have a visual.
Like when I read the Stephanie Plum books, I always picture Lorenzo Lamas (from his days in Renegade) as Ranger, and I picture Sandra Bullock as Stephanie. Queen Latifah (or maybe Mo'Nique) as Lula and Grandma Mazur sort of like Sofia in The Golden Girls.
As for Morelli, I cant think of who I would cast yet...someone hot and Itallian. Maybe Adrian Paul (he is English and Itallian). Adrian and Sandra made a nice couple in Love Potion #9.
As far as Reba goes, she did do "Annie Get your Gun" on Broadway. So it wouldnt be such a stretch.
Terri
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