Looks Like ...

I'm often asked how I go about creating the physical descriptions of my characters. I hear questions such as "Who does ______ look like?" or "Right from the start, I thought  ______ looked like _____" or "Do your characters resemble people you know?"

A definite no to the latter. As it happens--and I don't pretend to know how it happens--my characters come to me first not so much in physical appearance as in their nature,  their--well, their character. I get to know the character before I visualize his/her appearance. I don't really do a lot of detailed character description--just enough to give the reader a "look" at the person without belaboring the specifics. Most of us form pictures in our mind of the characters we read about anyway, and I'd much rather have it that way. Yet it's important for me to have a clear, strong image of my characters--even minor characters--in my own mind.  

The first thing that becomes clear is a look in the eye and then the voice. Only then does the full physical appearance emerge. Sometimes one of my "people" resembles a film or tv personality. Other times there's no resemblance to anyone familiar, a character simply develops fully formed and I know "it's him."

Some of my readers have fun trying to guess what well-known celebrity a character looks like, and there are a few who often nail the exact prototype. I don't always admit who the person was I had in mind for the physical resemblance, but more often I do if a reader guesses right.

Feel free to email me privately or contact me on Facebook if you want to try your luck at this. I'll give you a couple of samples, just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Of course, this will make sense to you only if you've read the book(s) in which the characters appear. Here goes:

Jeremiah ("Captain") Gant in the Riverhaven Years series: think a younger Tom Selleck with a little bit of John Stossel. Sandemon from the Emerald Ballad series: think Morgan Freeman. Jack Kane from Cloth of Heaven and Ashes and Lace (Song of Erin): Sean Connery in his early forties. Dr. Bethany Cole from the American Anthem series: a younger Lindsay Wagner. And Maggie from the Mountain Song Legacy series looks almost identical to a young girl on the face of a greeting card I once received--copper curls and all. Even though I couldn't hear her voice, her eyes and her smile struck me with such an impact I seemed to hear it. 

Let me hear from you if you want to offer a few guesses of your own!  

BJ