It is sheer coincidence, but this week I seem to be talking about character inspiration all over the place. I was talking about the character inspiration for Neven in the Kiss Across Worlds book on my newsletter.
I’m also currently plotting book 9.0 of the Scandalous Scions series (which currently has no name), and thick in character development there, too.
This post, below, was from this day seven years ago, when I was yet again talking about character inspiration. Who do you see when you read about Roman, in the Blood Stone series? — t.
I’ve been getting a huge number of hits on the site lately for Brian Austin Green, and the role he played in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. People are reading my rave review about him as a romantic hero. I find that promising as Green is my inspiration for one of the heroes in the sequel to Blood Knot. He is the starting point for a brooding, laconic, dark and very bad boy hero who only allows those closest to him to call him by his real name, Roman. That ends up being a handful of people. The rest of the world call him Adrian Xerus. You might remember what I said about Roman and the other hero of this book in previous working notes.
The sequel, now called Blood Stone, is going through secondary plotting. I’ve been reworking the story to give it added depth and complications. More importantly, I’ve been adding that most important element: Emotions. Emotional intensity is critical to romance novels, and I prefer mine, in particular, to throb with emotion. So I’ve been beefing the story up so it has plenty of the good stuff in it.
Roman is a strong character who blends old with new seamlessly, as people of his type must. He lives amongst humans as if he is one — and he once was, a very long time ago. Because of his age, he has some interesting skills and abilities, though, that only emerge on odd occassions. He’s an expert with a short sword and bows, both the crossbow and the normal bow. He has a unique ability for throwing things. Anything. Knives, rocks, the coffee cup on your desk. He throws with deadly accuracy — emphasis on the “deadly.” So Roman has an unconscious habit, honed over the centuries, of reaching for and weighing objects in his hands whenever he comes to a standstill, measuring and absorbing their quality as throwing ammunition. Most people who don’t know about his skill think it is a nervous tick, that he is unable to keep his hands still.
Blood Stone will be finished in about ten weeks, and going straight into final production and on to sale. If you’re on my newsletter list, you’ll get a reminder that the book is out on Amazon. If you’re not on the list and want to sign up, click here.
Cheers,
Get the news that no one else does. Sign up for my newsletter.
For a short while, you get a bundle of ebooks, free, when you sign up, as a Starter Library. Details here.