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With every book I spend some time at the beginning digging around the internet for that one picture that captures my character. They’re almost always actors/actresses, but its never that actual person, just the one image that seems to evoke the right essence to me.
With Sabine I knew that I needed a woman that was so beautiful, almost too pretty. Her being a descendent of Atlantis was important to the storyline and I wanted her to look different than the rest of the women in England. So I came across this picture of Kate Beckinsale and it was perfect.
Max was a little bit different process. Originally when he was a character in Seduce Me, his name was actually Peter and it was requested that I change that during the revision process. Well, when I renamed him to Maxwell, the feel of his character changed so I had to go and find a new image. It was so late in the game that I had to stay with the features I’d given him, the blond hair and blue eyes, but I just couldn’t use the same image.
I know it’s probably wrong, but I think my favorite character from the book is actually the villainess. She was so much fun. Every time Cassandra walked on stage her scenes just flowed. She was so deliciously nasty, so conniving and I loved every minute of her. I also knew because of her vanity that she had to be an attractive woman, but I wanted a different feel from her than Sabine. Where Sabine was warm, I wanted Cassandra to be icy.
Ah Spencer Cole, the real baddie in the book and a true megalomaniac. But in order to achieve the amount of success he had in life he had to be charming and handsome, but there’s that element of ick to him, at least from my perspective because I knew what he was capable of. He’s responsible for a pretty high body count in this book and I wanted and needed an image that reflected that innate creepiness, but perhaps only to those who was looking for it.
Lydia
Agnes
Calliope
So that was how I envisioned the characters and I hope it fits with some of yours. How do you envision characters as a reader? Do you think of an actor and fit him in or do you go by the cover? Do the authors’ descriptions create an image in your mind? Comment and you’ll have a chance to win an autographed copy of Desire Me along with an autographed copy of Shana Galen’s The Making of a Duchess. I happened to pick up an extra copy at a booksigning we did together last weekend.
And don’t forget that any comments made between now and June 30th count toward our Sony e-reader contest. Comment the most and you could win!
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Jun 14th
2010
9:52 am
K Said:
Hi Robyn,
Great question! I go by both. If we actually get to see a model’s face (and not some torso shot) I go with the model, esp. if that model is Nathan Kamp! *drool* But, I have also envisioned my own hero from the writers description. Usually I say to myself, ‘Oh, that sounds like Clive Owen!’ Then I can’t get Clive out of my head for the whole book. Not a bad thing. It varies from each book.
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Jun 14th
2010
9:53 am
Karyn Gerrard Said:
Sorry, that is supposed to be me, Karyn Gerrard, not “k”. Yikes.
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Jun 14th
2010
10:05 am
Shana Galen Said:
I do sometimes uses actors and actresses as models for characters, but more often than not I have an image in my mind. Love your pictures! I think they’re perfect.
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Jun 14th
2010
10:08 am
Kirsten Said:
When I start reading a book I don’t really have a idea of what they look like. It forms itself in my head as I get more and more into the story. Sometimes it is shaped by a describtion of the writer & yes sometimes the gorgeous guy on the cover comes to mind when I read the Heroes name. But I also found that (on occasion) I totally disagree with the authors describtion. I specifically remember one time the Hero had raven black hair but I just kept seeing a blue eyed blond.
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Jun 14th
2010
10:27 am
Angie Frawley Said:
I usually make my own image of the characters,but I sometimes do get an image stuck in there! Its part of the fun to make up in my mind waht they are going to look like,especially villans,I always seem to see them with a sneer or sarcastic look,even if they are pretending to be good,kind of like the bad always shines through!..Great new book,I dont have to tell you how much Im looking forward to the next,since you put my FAV pic of my FAV actor as a refrence look!! I think in that one I will be picturing a long hair,green eyed G.B.!!!!…
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Jun 14th
2010
10:36 am
Mary M Said:
With the hero and heroine, I usually imagine them according to the author’s description. With minor characters, I sometimes don’t have a clear picture of what they look like.
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Jun 14th
2010
10:37 am
Quilt Lady Said:
For me I always get a feel for the character in my head. Sometimes they will be like an actor but other time the image is more what I create.
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Jun 14th
2010
10:47 am
Christi Said:
I think of the characters the way the authors describes them. I never think of characters looking like movie stars or tv stars. UNTIL you wonderful authors show us your inspirations, then often I’ll go OHHH of course!
Christi
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Jun 14th
2010
11:19 am
eap Said:
I usually go with the author’s description to get the personality and look of the character but not the cover art or an actor.
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Jun 14th
2010
11:25 am
Christy Said:
Sometimes I buy the book based only on the cover.
Sometimes the cover just makes my eyes cross but I still pick it up and read the back what is the old saying you can’t judge a book by it’s cover! If the cover does show faces that is usually how I picture the character. There have been several times the characters remind me of people in my own life, which can be weird depending on the character 
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Jun 14th
2010
11:30 am
Shannon Said:
I know this seems strange, but when I imagine male characters, they are usually headless, but with a great body and nice voice. =)
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Jun 14th
2010
11:49 am
RobynDeHart Said:
Lots of great answers. I know for me as a reader I tend to go by the cover a lot unless the descriptions are really vivid. Of course there are many books now where you don’t get a look at the character on the cover or at least not their whole face and you have to fill in the gaps in your mind.
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Jun 14th
2010
11:59 am
runner10 Said:
I don’t imagine characters as stars. I sometime imagine people I know being the characters. Some storylines sound like people I know.
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Jun 14th
2010
12:21 pm
donna ann Said:
I never think of actors/celebs when reading; couldn’t picture most if my life depended upon it unless there was an actual picture in front of me. Even if you told me the hero looked like so & so it wouldn’t mean much to me most of the time as I wouldn’t know who so & so is.
While the cover might influence my vision of the characters, it’s generally the author’s descriptions/writing that form the picture for me. (hopefully the cover at least somewhat resembles the author’s writing.)
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Jun 14th
2010
1:47 pm
Romantic Girl Said:
When I’m reading I usually go by cover or author descriptions. I might come up with my own image if the character’s personality forms a picture for me. When I write the character’s image just comes to me. I typically can’t find a picture that works once it’s in my head though that doesn’t stop me from browsing the internet anyway as a procrastination tactic.
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Jun 14th
2010
2:07 pm
Barbara Elness Said:
I don’t picture actors or anyone I know, or even what is on the cover. I go by the author’s description and get a general picture in my mind of what I think the character’s look like. I’m usually more interested in what is going on in the story (the action) than what everything looks like, although I do enjoy the descriptions.
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Jun 14th
2010
2:45 pm
catslady Said:
I really prefer making my own images from what the author has told me – afterall the cover comes later and they’re not really basing their book on a model or movie star so I like to get as close to what the author is telling me. I guess that’s why I prefer covers with partial faces or none. Although many times the models are fantastic, there is nothing worse than one that doesn’t fit the description or doesn’t appeal to me or isn’t how I think they should be imagined.
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Jun 14th
2010
3:27 pm
Deb Said:
I like to go with the cover’s picture of the hero and heroine. I don’t like the body-only pictures; I like to see a face, too. I do go on the author’s description of the characters and I hardly ever think of actors and actresses or other famous people for the characters. It does peeve me, slightly, when the front cover doesn’t match the author’s description, though.
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Jun 14th
2010
3:29 pm
Jane Said:
I do try to envision how a character looks based on the author’s description. I like it when an author reveals which actor or actress they modeled their characters after. It helps put a face to the character.
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Jun 14th
2010
4:00 pm
RobynDeHart Said:
Such great comments! I guess this is a topic we all have opinions on.
Barbara, I totally agree. I think that’s why I started looking for images of my characters because it helped me describe them. Because as a reader I’m more concerned with the dialogue and action of the story and that bleeds over into my writing. So I have to be careful that I don’t skimp on the descriptions.
Angie, yes, GB is coming in March….
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Jun 14th
2010
4:40 pm
chey Said:
The author’s description helps me envision the characters. Then I think of actors that fit the description.
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Jun 14th
2010
5:55 pm
kris Said:
I use only my mind’s eye to picture the character. I try never to go by the book cover, because sometimes that isn’t accurate to the character (which is okay by me…eye candy is eye candy!). I also don’t like to envision an actor or actress, because alot of times I’m envisioning them in a favorite role they have played. It is amusing that I’m often way off-base when I read or see something from how the author envisions the character to look like!!
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Jun 14th
2010
10:26 pm
Linda Henderson Said:
I tend to visualize the characters in my head by the description the author gives. Yes, sometimes they might sound like a particular actor or actress, but I usually don’t just think of a famous person right away when visualizing a character.
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Jun 15th
2010
12:39 am
Stephanie Said:
I don’t think of specific people when I visualize characters. I use a mixture of the physical description the author gives me and their characteristics to form them in my head.
I’d be interested in knowing if you ever use the same picture for two different characters, Robyn.
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Jun 15th
2010
12:55 am
Mitzi H. Said:
I tend to visualize the character from the authors description. Sometimes it will fit with an known actor or actress, but because I watch so little television, I rarely connect with them. I do like to watch the videos fans often put on youtube.
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Jun 15th
2010
8:28 am
Karen H in NC Said:
HI Robyn,
I love the process an author goes through when developing her characters. I like to watch the author’s webpages to see if she has posted photos of her inspirations. That helps me a lot when I’m reading the story. Usually, I will use the cover of the book to help me visualize the H/H and if the cover doesn’t match the book…it blows my mind! As a reader, I tend to forget that the writing process also includes full development and visualization of the secondary characters too.
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Jun 15th
2010
9:06 am
RobynDeHart Said:
Stephanie, that’s a great question and the answer is no. Though I certainly have been tempted simply because I’ve used some really amazing pictures – in particular the picture for Gareth from Deliciously Wicked and James from Tempted at Every Turn (you can find both on my website). Just yummy, yummy men. And while I haven’t used the same actor/actress twice either, I certainly would if the pictures were unique and seemed to fit the character in my mind.
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Jun 15th
2010
8:30 pm
Rebekah Peyton Said:
Robyn (Aunt)-
I start reading and almost immediately each character has a face, some body language, and their own voice. Soon, however, this presents a problem. Once the author gives me more of a description, I have difficulty changing the image I already gave them. So most of the time I end up picturing someone who looks nothing like they’re supposed to. And the way I picture them looks like no one I know, usually. Sometimes after reading a book I will meet someone and think they look like a specific character though. It’s always pretty weird for me.
So there’s my insight into characters and images.
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Jun 20th
2010
6:44 pm
missnichollenys Said:
I have noticed my favorite books actually do not have a character represented on the cover. I love the fact that I can use my imagination and the physical descriptions within the book to come up with the character’s images.
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Jun 20th
2010
9:01 pm
LilMissMolly Said:
I usually have an idea of what a character is in my head. And sometimes the cover art just doesn’t get the character’s likeness at all! The worst is when the hair color is off. Although I also love movies, they usually don’t get it “right” either, so I’d rather a movie not be made at all.
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Jun 23rd
2010
9:42 am
elaine brady Said:
Robyn,
I truly enjoy both Desire Me and Seduce Me, looking forward to Treasure Me. I just wish I had seen this blog to have had your image of the characters, you did really well with the images. thanks for a enjoyable vacation read.
Elaine
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Jun 25th
2010
6:08 pm
Jessica C Said:
I look forward to reading Seduce Me now.
I don’t really see characters when I think consciously. REading and what I “see” is almost like watching TV through the back of my head. Not sure how else to describe it. I would much rather read than watch most anything!
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