Many thanks to Jane for providing an entertaining and eyecatching post ;)
I'll leave you in her very capable hands...
To
celebrate Harper Impulse Fortnight, I’d like to share a few thoughts on how I
choose the hot guys in my stories.
There
are so many fab parts to being a chicklit writer, but one of them has to be
dreaming up the male leads. Although most of my heroes have an unnerving habit
of marching onto the page fully formed, I still find it useful to find a real
life equivalent. Pictures of a flesh and blood guy come in handy, because if I
get stuck on a scene, a quick drool over the pic of the man in question will
usually get the creative juices flowing again. It’s also a great excuse to
adorn my desk top and inspiration boards with decorative pictures, and yes, I
can spend hours trawling the internet to find them, all in the name of work.
With
my last book, High Heels and Bicycle Wheels, I was pouring over a set of arty
Dolce and Gabbana shots of David Gandy, when I came across the perfect shot of
Jackson Gale, the lead guy in that story. I say “arty”, meaning very beautiful.
In fact, the collection hit facebook with the caption “David Gandy naked!!!!”,
although possibly the pictures didn’t warrant quite that many exclamation
marks. In some of the shots he was smoldering in a suit, but admittedly in
others he was wearing considerably less. Later, I sent the file of pictures
through to Katie at Harper Impulse, so she could select a suitably chaste
picture, to add to the Harper Impulse blog, as a Jackson teaser. This was to go
at the end of a guest post I’d written about Bryony, the heroine, and her fab
chocolate brownies. Poor Katie opened the picture file, expecting to see cake,
and instead got an unscheduled eyeful of David Gandy in the buff – she almost
had to start her maternity leave early.
The
dream guy in my latest book, The Vintage Cinema Club, is called Xander
Blackman. He’s a film producer and property developer, whose life is
spectacularly dysfunctional and sad. Can you tell I’m terminally in love with
him? I first started work on this book back in 2010, and as Xander strolled
onto the page of that first draft, I spotted he was a dead ringer for Mitchell
from the cult BBC3 hit, Being Human – a.k.a. Aidan Turner. (Although please
note, Xander definitely doesn’t have vampire tendencies in The Vintage Cinema
Club.) Since I cast him to play Xander all that time ago, Aidan Turner’s acting
career has taken off, so I wasn’t the only one to notice his qualities. He has
gone on to star in The Hobbit films, and as Poldark he’s recently been giving
Colin Firth a run for his money, as hottest guy in a wet shirt to grace our
screens, in the world ever. Even if Aidan’s much more famous now, that bone
structure, his stubble covered jaw, the choppy hair, and dark eyes, mean he’s
still a perfect fit to play Xander, especially when he’s looking mean, or serious.
Here
are a couple of pics to wet your appetite.
The
Vintage Cinema Club.
ebook
release on 21st May, paperback release 30th July.
"A
witty, warm-hearted romp through the lives and loves of three friends – with a
cool retro vibe, and a sense of fun that will never go out of fashion." –
Debbie Johnson, author of the best-selling ‘Cold Feet At Christmas’.
Meet
The Vintage Cinema Club….
Izzy
is a wow at making unwanted things pretty, but with three brothers and her
shabby chic furniture business to run she doesn’t have time to date. Could a
fabulous French proposal change her mind?
Single
mum Luce’s vintage bridal dresses are exquisite, but there’s no way she’s ever
going to wear one or walk down the aisle for that matter. She’s a strictly no
romance, one night kind of woman – or so she thinks…
Dida
seems to have it all – a chocolate and banana cake recipe to die for, lovely
kids (most of the time!) and a great lifestyle. But what good is a fabulous
home, when your marriage has more cracks than a pavlova and your husband is
having it off with half of Lithuania?
Three
retro fabulous friends, in love with all things vintage, run their dream
business from the faded grandeur of a rescued cinema. When that dream comes
under threat, they’ll do whatever it takes to save it.
Fans
of Lucy Diamond, Michele Gorman and Milly Johnson are going to love this
heartfelt, funny story.
Buy Link: amzn.to/1Gciy5n
Author Bio
I write fun chicklit,
with strong heroines, and lots of heart.
Writing is fab,
because I get to wear pretty shoes instead of wellies. I live in a cottage up a
mountain road in Derbyshire, where my family and pets are kind enough to ignore
the domestic chaos. Happily, we're in walking distance of a supermarket. I love
hearts, flowers, happy endings, all things vintage, most things french. When
I'm not on facebook, and can't find an excuse for shopping, I'll be walking, or
gardening. On days when I want to be really scared, I ride a tandem.
