Does this mean I read Ely’s mind? LOL! Scary! And he just popped into my head while I was typing that comment. I can so see him walking around in that towel. Dropping that tow…err….I’ll stop now.

OMG, Z, Megan Follows is like my idol. I mean, she’s Anne of Green Gables, what’s not to love?! She’d make a great Maggie! Love the rest of your cast, too.

I used to agree with all those who said that there wasn’t any right actor for the character in your head. And though it’s true, when I opened myself to looking at some pictures, I did find it really helpful in reinforcing my ideas of my characters – capturing a look or an expression.

Though in spite of going just for general inspiration, I am really picky about using age-appropriate actors (or pictures). And ideally I’d like nationality-appropriate, though I ultimately gave up on that. Unlike some Vagabonds (and you know who you are) I don’t get to watch as much BBC America as I’d like!

For my hero, I really like James Franco. He has the duality I’m trying to capture – he can look all dark and dangerous and intense, but when he smiles he’s so charmingly boyish.

And though Sophia Bush is a lot more wrong for my heroine than she is right, this picture has been helpful in developing a look:

And I haven’t read all of TACOM but I’ve always seen Sam as more *filled out* and not as slender as Jude. More Dougrey Scott. You know, if Aaron Eckhart could pull of the accent, he’d be perfect. Oh, would Matthew McFadyen be out of the question?

But for characters (my own and others), I always prefer the images in my head to those of RL actors. I can remember when many of us were in the midst of Maynia that none of the actors proposed fit the vision my imagination had created. Places, on the other hand, I do borrow images of. I downloaded images for Dori’s house, a 19th-century farmhouse built by her great-grandfather, Max’s showplace in Nashville and his mountaintop home in Ethan’s Gap, and even images of shops and restaurants in Dori’s town.

And yummy Jude Law.

I still haven’t pinpointed my hero, I had an idea about him but have since adjusted my hero’s personality and started a rewrite, so the jury’s still out.

My heroine, Cory, would be great played by Rachel Weisz, particularly her character from the Mummy. Sort of a bumbling smart girl.

Jude’s British… I mean, that’s Sam to a tee. But Sam is definitely haughty and arrogant and pompous. And I just realized that all three of those words are pretty much one and the same.

And, well, Sam’s hot. Hmmmm…

I’m still debating about Sam and open to suggestions. LOl

My publisher recently asked me to describe my characters for the purposes of doing the book covers, so I’ll give you the low-down on what I told them for Rhys and Amy:

For Rhys, I said think of Clive Owen or Hugh Jackman (They’ve both got that heavy-eyed, sexy ruggedness thing down pat). And for Amy, I thought because she’s young and vibrant, but innocent looking and intelligent, I said think of Natalie Portman.

Ah, I love beauty and the beast stories.