Month: February 2009

HERO SHOPPING

I’m a very visual person.  I always thought everyone had their own personal “TV” in their heads that they could watch.

This works well for me as a writer, because I often see (and hear!) my scenes play out on that personal TV set.

But, the disadvantage is, if I can’t see it clearly, I can’t describe it clearly for my readers so they can tune in their sets.  Sometimes I have to find visuals to help.

One thing I love to do is go hero shopping. 

Where does one shop for heroes?  Why, the Internet, of course. (How did we ever manage without the Internet?)  Most of the time I use modeling websites.  A lot of writers I know use celebrities as the model for their heroes/heroines, but I tend to gravitate more toward models who aren’t that well-recognized. Usually I know some of the characteristics I want, like blue eyes, or dark hair.  I’ll know if I’m looking for someone younger looking, or a little older looking.  What’s fascinating to me is how certain faces pop out for the different characters.  I generally create an “audition pool” of potential candidates, and then I carefully choose between them.  It’s mostly instinct at that point.

I do the same thing for my heroines, and any significant secondary characters.

Then I create a page with their pictures on it, and print it out.  Right now my current hero and heroine are taped to the shade right next to my computer.  This way, when I need to describe a certain physical characteristic, or a particular body movement or expression, I can glance over, get a really solid look at them, and put that onto the paper.

In my new book, A KID TO THE RESCUE, I’m introducing readers to the Hawkins Family.  This family had a total of twelve children.  The hero in KID is “child” number seven. So I needed images of the entire family.  When I went “shopping” for the Hawkins characters, I tried to select people who shared similar characteristics.  It turned out there’s a very distinctive jawline that runs in the family, particularly in the men.  Also, to my surprise as I’ve learned more about the individuals, I can see those traits in their pictures—traits I didn’t know about when I picked out my models.  For example, it turns out brother Hayden is a real flirt, a real lady’s man—and you can clearly see that in his pictures. (To see the whole Hawkins Family as I envision them, with a little help from a modeling website, go here.  Please note that Kasey’s name has been changed to Kara, and some of my characters have developed back story that would make me now list them as divorced instead of just “single”—and these ages are based on the book A KID TO THE RESCUE.  Now I just have to keep them all straight as I try to write more stories for these fine, fun, people.)

I send these pictures along with my manuscript, and my editor passes them on to the art department.  The art department, also being made up of very visual folks, appreciates the fact that I give them something besides words to describe my characters. (Pictures being worth a thousand words, yada, yada…)  My covers have always been fantastic, so I think submitting the pictures is helpful.

I also shop for furniture pictures, vehicles, and home layouts. Whatever I need in order to envision things clearly so my readers can also see things clearly.

Do you have a personal TV set in your head?  When you write or read, do you actually “see” the scenes in your head?  Does it irritate you when the pictures on the cover don’t precisely match the descriptions of the characters inside the book?  Where would you go hero shopping?

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Please leave a comment or ask a question to enter for a chance to win A KID TO THE RESCUE. Entries accepted until midnight P.S.T.

To learn more about Susan and her books, please have a look at yesterday’s promo post and visit her website.

VERY SUPERSTITIOUS…

It’s great to be here visiting with you today, but it’s also a bit of a challenge.  A good one.  While we write thrillers together seamlessly, we were a bit flummoxed about how to go about writing a blog in one voice. 

The two of us have been best friends since we were young mothers.  Our kids met in a mother-toddler class, hit it off immediately, and so did we.  We thought we’d end up in-laws one day, but that didn’t happen.  Instead, we’re writing partners with five books written together and lots more written separately.  Karen is outgoing, Jill is private, but other than that, we two are a lot alike, devoted to our families and to our writing.  We finish each other’s sentences, we think with one brain, writing our books line by line together.

In THE ILLUMINATION, our new release, we explored the ancient belief in the Evil Eye, a protective symbol that plays a prominent role in the book.  Before we started our research, Karen—being superstitious—already knew a lot about it, Jill not so much. 

Karen:  I’m obsessively superstitious.  I come by it naturally, being raised in a Sicilian-Italian family where horseshoes wrapped in red ribbons hung over our doorways for protection and St. Christopher rode on the dashboard of our family car.

From as far back as I can remember, my mother and grandmother warned me about the evil eye—mal occhio—and how to protect myself if I thought someone was shooting the evil eye at me.  More times than I can count, I watched my grandmother or one of my older female relatives perform the incantations to remove the curse from some hapless victim in our family.

Jill: I’ve never been particularly superstitious, though I’ll admit to avoiding stepping on cracks or walking under ladders.  Because…why take chances?  Those two are so ingrained, even my practical side won’t risk ignoring them.

Karen: And you always say, “bread and butter,” when we’re walking somewhere and have to go around opposite sides of a pole or bench or some other obstacle. 

Jill: Okay, that’s another one.  I learned to say, “bread and butter” as a little girl.  It’s a way of saying “may nothing ever come between us” to avoid breaking a relationship.  Has anyone else ever heard about this superstition, or is it a regional Midwest deal? 

Karen: I’m into all of it.  “Bread and butter.”  “You owe me a Coke.”  Throwing salt over my left shoulder if I spill some accidentally, avoiding black cats—about the only thing I don’t ascribe to is aversion to the number 13.  It’s one of my lucky ones, in fact.

Jill: What I’ve never understood is why you think that if you cry on your birthday, you’ll cry all year long.  Every time you say that, it cracks me up.  Is that a genuine Italian superstition, or did your mother make it up?

Karen: Who knows?  I don’t.  But I try my damnedest not to ever cry on my birthday—even over sentimental cards.  My sister, raised in that same Sicilian-Italian family, thinks I’m nuts.  Still, when we started our research for THE ILLUMINATION, I learned there was more to the Evil Eye than I thought.  The research was…well, eye-opening.

Jill and Karen: We had a blast learning about the incredible mythology surrounding this ancient symbol—one of the oldest and most wide-spread of all human superstitions.   

The eye symbol appeared in Egyptian hieroglyphics and on the cuneiform tablets of the Babylonians and Sumerians.  It was also mentioned in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy and Proverbs), and in writings by classical Greek and Roman writers such as Plutarch and Cicero.  Even Socrates had a connection to the Evil Eye—he was rumored to have possessed it, holding his followers and admirers under the spell of his magnetic gaze.  Who knew? 

Here are some other tidbits we learned:

• Admiration, a compliment, or an envious, overlong glance, are all thought to impart the Evil Eye.
• In Scotland the Evil Eye is called droch shuil. 
• The belief that a person can purposely cast an Evil Eye on others is held only in Southern Italy and Sicily.
• Protective talismans have been used to protect against the Evil Eye since antiquity.  Blue beads depicting an eye are thought to deflect the evil back upon the person casting the Evil Eye, thereby protecting the intended recipient.
• In Turkey, a protective blue eye is painted on the national airliners.
• Animals and children were considered particularly susceptible to the Evil Eye.
• Spitting was thought to protect against the Evil Rye. 
• Protective Evil Eye jewelry, worn for centuries, is still prevalent today, becoming increasingly popular in mainstream culture.

In fact, the two of us occasionally wear Evil Eye bracelets or hamsa charms (open-palmed hands) for good luck and protection.  We’re wondering if anyone out there wears any sort of protective talisman to ward off the Evil Eye or to bring good luck.  Most everyone buys into some kind of superstition or other—knock on wood, offer a  “God Bless You,” or “gezundheit,” when somebody sneezes, and keep your fingers crossed, to mention a few. 

Now it’s your turn.  We’d love to know about your superstitions. What little rituals, charms or sayings keep you feeling safe?

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Please leave a comment to enter to win a copy of THE ILLUMINATION. Entries accepted until midnight, PST.

To learn about Karen and Jill, please visit their websites.