Don’t call us, we’ll call you.

Dear Reader, some days ago somebody on Twitter asked about descriptions of characters in books. Personally, I like to read detailed descriptions, of characters, scenery, food, dress, just about everything in fact, provided that they don’t go on forever. Being a visually oriented person, my stories are like films in my head and I want to convey the imagery to my readers but it also helps me navigate the stories and get a clearer perception of the world that I’ve immersed myself in.

When picturing my fictional characters’ physical appearance I often cast the parts with actors, models or other performers. In a fictional universe where all actors who ever lived are available at any age, choice is ample. Whilst naturally, all the A-list actors flock to audition… ahem… the really big names rarely cut it for me. Everybody swears that they never read gossip, well, Dear Reader, I actually never do. I never read the tabloid papers. I never watch interviews. I rarely read magazines. I’ve never been interested in celebrities’ personal lives, I’m interested in their work plain and simple. Yet some of the big, black headlines can’t be blocked out and, though it’s next to nothing, I still know more than I ever wanted to about “Brangelina” or Meghan.

I need people whose personal life is mostly unknown to me so that it won’t “taint” my character, a face which I can fill with fictional personality. A clean slate, a tabula rasa. I could never do real life film casting.

But I digress, Dear Reader, I thought that perhaps you would enjoy being introduced to some of the faces that I have cast in my books.

Major Arthur Hastings was born to redeem Agatha Christie’s Captain Hastings’ reputation as somewhat of a dunce. David Suchet is obviously a brilliant actor and I find his character, Poirot, unbearably smug and patronizing. He witholds information, then sniggers at Captain Hastings for not being able to make the same deductions as himself. Hugh Fraser is “a quite fetching chap” and a younger version of him is the template for my Major Hastings, who’s 26 in ‘Oaths of Affection’.

“Dark-blonde curls tumbled fashionably over a rectangular face, which despite a strong jaw, was rather ordinary. Straight eyebrows and a thin, Greek nose above thin lips, slightly upturned at the corners, created an open and amiable expression. […] Eyes, blue as a summer’s sky, met Lady Marigold’s across the room, stunning her to her very core.”

Major Hastings’ younger cousin Lord Peter Whysleigh was inspired by another classic British sleuth: Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey. Edward Petheridge was 51 when he played the 24 year old Wimsey. Multitalented Petheridge is a fantastic actor and, although such an age difference might demand a bit too much of viewers’ ability to suspend disbelief on film, there are no such obstacles for my casting purposes. I simply found photos of Edward as a young man and went from there.

Lord Peter Whysleigh’s older brother, Lord Giles Whysleigh, is the male lead in ‘Orbits of Attraction’, but the actor who leant him his face to is sadly no longer with us. One of the most beautiful people in history (no, I don’t find that an exaggeration), Rutger Hauer passed in 2019.  

“The man’s exceptional eyes were so pale that they seemed almost translucent, alight with warmth and confidence. […] A fourth discreet glance registered a rectangular face, a chiselled jaw, and a somewhat droopy nose. The glance lingered to a long look, greedily tracing his shapely lips, slightly upturned at the corners; she wondered how it might feel to be kissed by those lips, by such a man as he. A war hero, she thought, vividly picturing his magnificen appearance in the regiment’s silver-laced, dark blue uniform.”

Whilst my male leads tend to be inspired by various film characters, my female leads have (so far) come about in a reverse process. They show up in my head and then, perhaps even long after I finsihed the novel, I accidentally stumble across their image on the internet. This was the case with Lady Marigold and gorgeous actress and singer Laura Osnes. ‘Oaths of Affection’ took nearly a whole year to write and was published in late 2019. But it wasn’t until some time last year that I came across Laura’s image. “Ah, there you are!” was my first thought. Laura Osnes may not have Lady Marigold’s naturally golden-green eyes and strawberry blonde hair, but she certainly have her vivacious energy and beaming smile.

Laura Osnes as Ella in Cinderrella, Broadway. Image: broadway.com

Each to their own of course and as readers we are free to make what we like of characters, to picture them in whichever way suits our own fancies. One person’s hot is another’s not, so I hope, Dear Reader, that you shall read many delectable heros and heroines into mine and others’ stories.

With that I wish you a lovely Sunday afternoon where ever you are.