My main character is seventeen-year-old Sidain, in my YA historical fantasy, A Handful of Scars. It's set at the end of the Roman Empire, in Greece, with Atilla the Hun and his hordes looming at the borders preparing to attack and plunder.
Sidain is clever with horses and building miniature aqueducts, and bitter over the betrayal that killed her father and destroyed her family’s reputation. Once nobility, now she and her mother are nobodies, all their wealth and status lost. Sidain has no intention of staying that way.
Next we have the Love Interest, Liet. Sidain is Greek, and the enemies of Greece at this point are the Huns. And guess what? Liet is a Hun. His horse was shot and killed during a raid on Sidain's hometown, and now he's stranded in enemy territory, without any friends or allies. Ed Westwick is an actor I found while randomly scrolling through pictures in People magazine, and his look was the closest I could find to Liet. I hear he plays the bad boy on the show Gossip Girls, which I've never seen. So I have no idea how he comes across as an actor, but Liet's "the misunderstood bad boy".
Talos is another main player, a prince of a Roman province trying to free itself from Rome. The best word for him is "calculating" - and photos of Simon Woods clicked with me.
Sidain and Talos grew up together as childhood buddies. When they discover the need to marry for an alliance against the Huns, they are both rattled by the idea.
Last is the antagonist. I found four digital images that made me think of Sil - some are female, some are male, some are in between. That's what Sil is like. Constantly changing, capricious, at times an ally, other times a foe. Not exactly a shapeshifter... but I can't give away too many details about what she - or he - is. Just a hint: I'm a big fan of mythical creatures...
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Wow. Interesting set of actors you've got there. I love the details about your characters too. I have a feel for the story by just looking at the pics and reading each bit about them. I'm hooked :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, kinda loving the sound of androgynous, shifty Sil. Details, please! Simon Woods definitely does calculating well in Rome so I can see why you picked him.
ReplyDelete- Sophia.
Wow. I'm fascinated by your antagonist. I want to read your book now!
ReplyDeleteYour casting sounds perfect, especially Liv Tyler.
Oooh Liv Tyler and her smile is lovely!!!! I'm loving your Sil character A LOT!!! Take care
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I love finding pictures of the characters that fill my head. It's such fun and helps so much in writing their story!
ReplyDeleteYour characters sound wonderful! I love how you made images of them from combining different people. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteFUN FUN FUN!! I do that. :D I pull images from Google and make a power point for my own personal use of the characters in my manuscripts. Did I mention how much FUN it is?
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures you found. Not only are your picks perfect for the characters you describe, but you found great poses, too.
ReplyDeleteand the characters you describe sound absolutely fascinating anyway. Great idea for a story ^_^
Verrrra Interesting. Can't wait to start reading your book. Like the unusual setting even better than the opening.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking part in my blogfest! Gotta say I am a sucker for anything set in Greece! and I'm totally intrigued by your antagonist... gonna have to go look and find this creature now ^.^
ReplyDeleteMust. Know. More. About. Your. Villain.
ReplyDeleteHe/She sounds super intriguing.
Love you cast! Thanks so much for participating. Check either Alexis' or my blog on Wednesday for the announcement of our winners
Okay, when do I get to beta read your book????? :D
ReplyDeleteYou cannot go wrong with Liv Tyler. She's gorgeous! Nice cast. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMarie at the Cheetah
How fun! I especially love the last character-- you got me very curious!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see others do this too! I am forever cutting out photos of smiles, eyes, and the perfect characters to inspire one of my creatures.
ReplyDeleteLove the way you intice us with your lure. So what are these creatures??? Can't wait to read about them now that I have a visual.
These are so cool! I love your choices--your description of the character matches the faces so well. I love Liv Tyler, by the way. She just seems like a nice person :)
ReplyDeleteI love the people you picked to match your characters.
ReplyDeleteI always picture Liv as a teenager, despite her current age.
Nice set of characters! I watch Gossip girl and Ed Westwick plays the misunderstood bad boy very well! He has a tendency to do something bad on impulse but then you can see in his eyes that he didn't mean to hurt anyone with his actions. I love Liv Tyler, and she's really young looking, so I'm sure she could pull off a younger character... there's no harm in dreaming!
ReplyDeleteVery cool! I can definitely see those actors in the roles you've described and your book sounds amazing. Can't wait to read it someday!
ReplyDeleteI have a YA historical fantasy, too, but mine is set in late 19th century Paris. This blogfest is cool, but tough! I don't know who I'd cast for most of my characters, but I guess it would be neat to see their faces that way. Maybe I'll give it a try one day.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this very cool manuscript!
Your historical fantasy sounds right up my alley, Margo! And I love the names even more than the pictures you've picked to go with it. Why oh why is this book not on shelves already? I love your premise.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Interesting. I don't think I've ever considered what REAL person my characters look like. Hmmm... Something to ponder. I know you're off the internet right now, per your most recent blog, but good luck hitting those goals in May!
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