Have You Fallen For Someone Too Good To Be True?

One of the great things about being single is that you can publicly reflect on the dating life without worrying about the consequences when you get home. In fact, I am home and I’m not worried at all.

Last week my friend S C Cunningham and I were talking about our fictional characters and how they related to our desires in dating and relationships. I took the bait and today I’m going to talk about some of my characters and how they may have found their way into my books.

My characters often come to me in a flash and then develop into more complex people as I work with them over time. I’m not sure where any particular character comes from and if you want to psychoanalyze me at the end of this blog, feel free. Also feel free to chime in with the characters from fiction (or movies) that you’ve fallen for even though you know it is too good to be true.

Jo Caulfield from Sin & Vengeance is the place to start for me. Jo is a tall blonde that turns every head. She’s a complex women who marries an older guy in a marriage of appearances designed to improve her husband’s status in the community. Jo is paid well and is allowed to pursue her love of music as long as she remains celibate.

Jo Caulfield

I fell in love with the image I worked from to create Jo. She resembles someone I adored when I was young and I think her complexity and sophistication – maybe even a touch of craziness was really appealing to me. Of all the female characters I have created, Jo remains my favorite. If she appeared in the flesh, I’d propose in three months.

Charlotte Finch from The End of Marking Time  is even more complex than Jo. She’s a redhead (I’ve never dated a redhead) and she’s devious and manipulative. It’s clear that Charlotte is doing her job, but she seems to be enjoying the machinations she puts Michael through. For those of you who think I have something against redheads, that’s certainly not true. One strange thing about my dating life is that all my serious relationships have come when women have approached me. I’m not sure if this is the way it always happens and I’m just more willing to admit it than other guys, or if I should be more proactive.

Charlotte Finch

Anyway, writing the book I was attracted to Charlotte’s character and I even remember flirting with myself during an online chat where I played CJ West and Charlotte at the same time. (I’m not sure which of us was more turned on, but it was fun.)

Deirdre Deudon and Leah Donovan (Sin & Vengeance and Addicted to Love) are both on the prowl. Deirdre because her husband doesn’t pay any attention to her and Leah because of the peculiarities of living in Highland Falls. It’s obvious where these women came from and just as clear that I want to find a woman with a similar attitude and desire for passion.

Deirdre Deudon

Leah Donovan

But it was a surprise to me while writing this blog that Leah’s desire for constant sex and Deirdre’s willingness to get naughty didn’t create as strong an attraction for me as the more complex characters of Jo and Charlotte. This could indicate one of two things. Either I’m able to look beyond offers of constant and fantastic sex and see a woman for who she is OR I like being tortured by sophisticated and manipulative women. I’m not sure, so feel free to tell me in a comment.

I need to mention one other fictional woman. I’ve read hundreds of books, but only one female character stands out to me as potential dating material. Ruby Goodman from It Happens In Threes.  Ruby is fiercely independent and has a penchant for skinny dipping. In one scene Ruby stands nude on the edge of the pool talking to two men. It wasn’t so much the eroticism of the scene that grabbed me, but her confidence and independence not to walk over and cover herself with a towel that captured my imagination.

If I had to choose a date with a fictional character it would come down to Jo Caulfield or Ruby Goldman.

What about you?

Which fictional character have you fallen for?

Which fictional character would you set me up on a blind date with?

(authors, if you’d like to continue the discussion on your blog, let me know and I’ll link your post here.)