My Famous Muses

Finishing a story is always bittersweet -- I always feel as if I've accomplished something but, at the same time, it's hard to let go. Today, I celebrate the completion of Blue.

When I write, I tend to base the way a character looks on a particular actor (or sometimes a journalist or other well-known person). This works well for me -- it gives me something to go on until those characters morph into themselves.

Two of my faces for Blue were actors Jason Isaacs and Christopher Atkins. Now, as far as I know nobody I've based a character on has ever been aware that I've done so but I wonder how much of themselves they would see in a character if they read one of my stories but didn't know I'd used them to inspire me?

The thing is, although I don't base the characters on anyone's real life, sometimes I do throw in tidbits I know to be fact. Such as Nathan being able to speak fluent Spanish -- which Jason Isaacs does. Or Deke loving the ocean -- like Mr. Blue Lagoon himself.

I could give you a list of folks who've stood in for my characters -- Brian Kennedy, Bradley Cole, Richard Armitage, Stephen Dillane, Jason Flemying, Elias Koteas, Dougray Scott, Eddie Izzard (not so much the face in his case but the idea) -- and notably Gerard Butler who served not once but four times as my muse.

Right now, I've got Christopher Eccleston on my mind so who knows what's around the bend.

I don't want to leave the ladies out although there's seldom any one person who fits my lead female characters. She's always more of a combination of faces -- which I think is because all of my main women characters contain so much of myself (personality-wise, in bits and pieces) that it's hard for me to put someone else's face on them. I always say they're all me -- just younger, thinner, prettier...

So, I've come to the end of writing and editing another story. I have my readers -- who I'm thankful for -- they seem to keep coming back for more.

Now, if only a publisher would think the same way.

But, first, I suppose I have to actually give them a chance to reject me...