Thursday, June 17, 2010

A Face for my Hero

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SPECIAL NOTE: Morgan Wyatt is the lucky winner of Barbara Monajem SUNRISE IN A GARDEN OF LOVE & EVIL. Morgan, I will send your email to Barbara.

A FACE FOR MY HERO

I can't describe a hero without a clear picture of him in front of me.
Hugh Jackman who was voted Sexiest Man Alive in 2008 and hosted the 2009 Oscars, lost his Aussie accent to become my aristocratic Count François de Valroux in French Peril. Hugh’s angular features and hazel eyes perfectly matched those of my French hero. I still have the lovely picture of Hugh sent to me that my Playground friends for my birthday. I printed a pathree years ago ge-size copy and daydream while I type.













Another friend knew I was writing a medical romance and gave me the right inspiration. George Clooney’s picture landed on my desk next to that of Hugh. Dark, tall and handsome Clooney who played Dr. Doug Ross in ER became my model for my Puerto Rican Dr. Marc Suarez in Babies in the Bargain.













While writing my fifth book, a medical romance set in Belarus, Prescription in Russian, I asked Pierce to lend his heart-stopping smile and suave charm to my hero, Dr. Fyodor Vassilov. Can you understand now why the heroine, Dr. Jillian Burton, an American physician on a mission to Belarus, loses her heart despite her life-long pledge never to fall in love? Could you resist a Pierce Brosnan look-alike? I couldn’t. By the time I typed THE END to my manuscript I was head over heels in love with my hero—whether his name was Fyodor or Pierce.

I loved him in The Thomas Crown Affair, a light suspense comedy he played with Rene Russo about a billionaire playboy who steals priceless work of art from the Louvre Museum until a lovely detective puts an end to his infuriating hobby.

Laws of Attraction was even better. Brosnan starred opposite Julianne Moore in the story of two divorce attorneys who don’t believe in love and compete against each other in court but become attracted to each other.

And recently have you seen Pierce singing in Mamma Mia? According to an interview with Reader’s Digest, Pierce said he’d accepted the role as soon as his agent said, 'Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!' And he was trained by two singers from the Sweedish pop group ABBA who wrote the music for Mamma Mia. Hmm I wasn’t very fond of his singing but…

Don’t you just love him!!!
I didn’t use an actor to picture my hero in my first book To Love A Hero. The handsome real-life colonel X worked with me on a laboratory renovation project in Minsk, Belarus, ten years ago. He was hero enough to make any woman daydream. I had several pictures of him lying around on my desk for the duration of my wriring.













Now, imagine my surprise when I received a notification from Facebook a week ago informing me thatColonel X wanted to friend me and has left me three messages. I smiled to my ears and opened my messages. X said he found me on Facebook. He and his wife and daughters have checked my website and were thrilled to learn that I wrote a story set in Belarus. I sent him an electronic copy of To Love A Hero. And he sent me a family picture. Big disappointment: The handsome colonel who retired from the army was wearing a suit and has gaineda lot of weight and turned gray. Good thing I wrote my book before he found me on Facebook!!!

Do you look at the face of your hero when you write or read a book? WHO do you visualize in his arms when he holds and kisses the heroine?
All my books are available at amazon.com, fictionwise and the publishers, The Wild Rose Press and Cerridwen Press.

20 comments:

Beth Trissel said...

Wow, Mona. Can't go wrong with those guys. A favorite of mine is British actor Clive Owen.

Sheila Tenold said...

Fun post, Mona! I'm partial to a young Tom Selleck, well, even an older Tom Selleck still gets my attention.

My current heroes are two brothers who are part Native American, Mexican and American so finding the faces was a challenge, but I succeeded. And, yes, I do visualize them inside my head.

Judith Keim said...

Love seeing the pictures of your heroes. Chuckled over the change in the Colonel...happens to us all!Your book settings make such fun reads...Congratulations on your success!

Autumn Jordon said...

Oh, Mona. You had me at Pierce. I post pictures of my heros next to my computer all the time. I think I need to write a book for Pierce.

P.L. Parker said...

Love the way you pick a male and fashion your heroes after one of them. My heroes are totally my imagination, and they have to have great bodies - have to. LOL. My best wishes to you for many sales.

JACLYN DI BONA said...

Dear Mona,
Fantastic article. Love all your hero's. They matched your books perfectly. You are a marvel.

I never thought much about it, but now that you've made me think, I guess the males in my family pop into my head when I think of features, statue and color.

Checking my stories, I remembered that, my son, Skip, had a model’s physique with black wavy hair and big, black, devilish eyes, that twinkled with mischief. Like my hero in The Whims Of Fate.

As an older figured in Autumn Love, I pictured my father as my hero. On the other hand, like my husband, black wavy hair and blue-green eyes are a weakness of mine.

Loved the way you matched book and hero. LOL when reading about your hero in To Love A Hero has faded with age. Sad that mother nature has her way with all of us at one time or another.

Jaclyn

Penny Rader said...

Loved your post, Mona. George Clooney has such a sexy grin. And I've always thought Pierce was simply gorgeous. I use pics, too, for my characters, settings, etc.

How cool that you used a real person as a model and that he contacted you. Maybe his ears were burning? Too bad every guy's look don't improve with age. :D

Mary Marvella said...

Like your heroes! Adrienne Paul as The Highlander was the first hero I found for my books. He still makes my pulse race.

Matthew Mcconaughey showed up as a guardian angel in my current WIP.

Paisley Kirkpatrick said...

I don't suppose I have to tell you who all my heroes resemble, do I Mona!? You know they are all sexy Scots that are in the image of the ever so hunky Gerard Butler. :)

How fantastic you heard from your Russian general. That is so cool even if he isn't as you remember him. I can't imagine how he felt reading your wonderful story...my favorite Mona Risk story BTW.

Joan Leacott said...

HI Mona, adore your choice of heroes. I can picture every one. My first hero shared colouring with my husband, dark hair and laughing brown eyes. He seems to be sneaking into his story, like Alfred Hitchcock's cameo appearance in each of his movies.

Mona Risk said...

Sorry I am getting back to you so late. I had guests all day long. They just left.

Clive Owenms for Beth: good choice

Tom selleck for Sheila: wow

Thanks Judy, my colonel was a big diappointment although I was so happy to hear from him. I almost told him to go on a diet and dye his hair. LOL

Mona Risk said...

Go Autumn, write a romantic suspense with Pierce. You are so good at that.

Thank you PL, I am sure your heroes are to die for.

Hey Jaclyn you never told me taht you husband ahd black wavy hair and blue-green eyes. Wooohoo I have to meet him.

Mona Risk said...

Penny, George C. and Pierce have bone-melting smiles,. I wonder if they are aware of their charm.

Mary, if my friend Janice ever heard your hero is Matthew Mcconaughey, she'll have your head on a silver platter.

Paisley, of course I know about Gerald Butler. Who doesn't, dear? I wonder if you are going to send him a special quilt. LOL

Mona Risk said...

Joan, I will think of your husband when I read about Carter. Ah, here is a lucky hubby.

Lilly Gayle said...

Mona, You have great tastes in heroes! I like Pierce and George, but I adore Hugh Jackman. When writing OUT OF THE DARKNESS, I visualized Oded Fehr from The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo. He's a good-looking Israeli actor and his accent is very sexy. He's cut his hair now, but when it was long....yum.

Angelique Armae said...

This is so true! I need to know what my hero looks like or I can't write him LOL! I have a folder with tons of photos of celebs for inspiration. Of course my heroes are never identical to any real person, but it does help to have some visuals for inspiration.

Josie said...

Mona,
Who doesn't love George Clooney? And is it me, or does he just keep getting better looking as he grows older?
Funny story about your colonel.
And, I didn't realize you had a specific man in mind when you wrote "Babies in the Bargain."

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