Welcome to the Rock*It Reads Heating Up the Holidays Blog Hop. There are 15 stops on the blog tour. The more blogs you visit and comment on, the greater your chances of winning the grand prize, a $75 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble or Amazon, and a huge collection of books from the authors of Rock*It Reads. Smaller prizes will be available at each stop along the way.
Good luck, and have fun!
Oh, that blog hop header makes me think of…snow. Yeah, that’s it…snow!
Since we’re heating up the holidays, I thought it would be fun to heat them up with the hero from my latest release. ENSLAVED hit stores last Tuesday (Nov. 6). It’s the 5th book in my Eternal Guardians series and it features Gryphon, a guardian who was once a playboy but whose life completely changed when he was imprisoned in the Underworld. Yeah, yeah, there I go, taking a nice, cute and sexy guy and making him all dark but…isn’t that what readers love??? (I know I do.)
Inspiration for Gryphon was’t all that hard to find. He’s blond, muscular, blue eyed and of course…hot. And I knew exactly who to pattern him after as soon as he came on scene in the very first Eternal Guardians book, MARKED. I’m not the kind of author who usually visualizes celebs for her characters, but when I started this series I had 7 (okay, 9, really) very unique men and I needed to visually be able to differentiate them in that very first book. So I made a character chart for each of them and–yes–looked for images online that fit their descriptions. This is what I used for Gryphon:
So now I’d like to know what you think.
Do you like knowing who an author envisions when writing, or does it ruin the fantasy of the book for you? I’m giving away a print copy of MARKED to one lucky commenter, and an ebook copy of BOUND TO SEDUCTION to another!
Leave a comment below to enter for your chance to win!
Don’t forget to visit the other authors on the Blog Hop for more chances to win!
And don’t forget to join me on my ENSLAVED blog tour! Follow along with the discussions and interviews and enter to win free books! You can find all the blog stops HERE.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:54 am · Link
I guess I always imagine what the hero looks like not really using the cover as a guide unless he matches what I imagined. I have a pretty vivid imagination. I agree with what Melissa B said about wanting to see what the author sees the hero looking like but I usually just put my preferences..lol
November 12th, 2012 at 11:55 am · Link
I really like seeing who they envision as their characters. I don’t always see em the same way but every once in a while I’ve read a book and got thought of an actor that would fit and found out later they were the inspiration. Love that. And nah. Never ruins it if they see them differently than I did.
Thanks!
acade29@gmail.com
November 12th, 2012 at 4:42 pm · Link
I don’t like to know who is being envisioned- I like to come up with my own mental images
November 12th, 2012 at 6:12 pm · Link
I like to see how the author sees the character. Thanks for the giveaway.
katsrus(at)gmail(dot)com
November 12th, 2012 at 8:05 pm · Link
An author having or showing the inspiration for the character makes no difference to me as the publisher typically puts a guy on the cover, sometimes doesnt even match the character in the book . While reading I typically end up invisioning the guy I want to see.
November 13th, 2012 at 10:05 am · Link
I don’t. I envision the character in my mind based on what I’ve read not visually. 99% of the time the visual doesn’t match with the image I have in my head.
November 13th, 2012 at 10:24 am · Link
That first picture makes me so……thirsty! lol
But as to your question, I have no problem with authors suggested visual. It is just added entertainment/in sight into the authors thoughts. Usually it doesn’t affect my enjoyment.
November 13th, 2012 at 12:20 pm · Link
I don’t mind knowing if I haven’t read it yet. If I find out what the author envisioned Once I have read the book and made up my own mind about the character, it just throws me off, if I pictured something different. But it doesn’t change anything for me. I will keep seeing the hero my way! thanks so much!!
hschrock24112 at yahoo dot com
November 13th, 2012 at 12:50 pm · Link
I do like knowing who an author envisions when writing a specific character because I’m usually interested to know behind-the-scenes things like that. It doesn’t really ruin the fantasy of the book for me at all – I guess I have a pretty good imagination, lol.
November 13th, 2012 at 4:14 pm · Link
I think it’s interesting to compare what I see with what the author envisioned. I usually have something totally different in mind, but that’s ok.
November 13th, 2012 at 7:49 pm · Link
It can ruin it for me. But sometimes I like to know.
smurfettev AT gmail DOT com
November 13th, 2012 at 7:52 pm · Link
I like to see who they were picturing but I like to see it after I have read the story.
bacchus76 at myself dot com
November 13th, 2012 at 8:27 pm · Link
Hello, Gryphon! 😉
I prefer to see who the author chooses. It helps me get a better idea sometimes to see who they picture while writing it.
Please don’t enter me into the contest. I already have this one. 🙂
November 14th, 2012 at 3:43 am · Link
I really like to know who the author envisions…I always stop and look at the cover and go back to reading..but on the kindle ..kinda hard..so to have a little note on who you picture as the person would be excellent for us kindle hoarders 😉
kuuipocat@yahoo.com
November 14th, 2012 at 5:05 am · Link
Hi, I’d rather not know where the author gets their inspiration for the book. It does kind of ruin it for me. Thanks for the excerpts.
November 16th, 2012 at 11:31 am · Link
I like seeing what inspires authors but when reading, I picture what I think the hero looks like to me!
books4me67 at ymail dot com
November 21st, 2012 at 10:40 am · Link
I would one day like to write a book that moves my readers as you have and to be able to dive into a reader’s mind and understand what they go through to make their books so irresistible or just plain good is a very exciting opportunity. However, I love using my own imagination whenever I read a book. For this reason I usually read the book before watching the movie based on the book so I can see if what these people portrayed is close to what I have imagined. I love everyone of the eternal guardians book and even went to look up background information on these heroes. I would also like to add that it does not ruin the fantasy for some because I know many of my friends who like to see what the author portrays her writing to be and the greatly appreciate the picture given on the cover along with the description. As you can guess these are the people who do not really care about watching the movie first or reading the book first. Ultimately, to me the writing gives the most description while the picture is a form of guide.
November 26th, 2012 at 8:28 pm · Link
I enjoy knowing what the author envisioned the characater to look like. I love having my own image conjured up from the word description and personality traits and what not, but it doesn’t bother me a bit to know what the author thought of when coming up with the character. And in this case, it’s a plus for me… I can’t believe you thought of Paul Walker!!! I fantasize about him probably once a week because I think he looks like a Greek God reincarnated 😉
November 30th, 2012 at 1:05 am · Link
I love knowing who the author envisions as the character. After all it is her character. I like being able to be inside her head as she writes. When I try to imagine the character I sometimes just come up with a vague image. But to know who the author had in mind while writing is definitely a plus. Paul Walker …. much better than what I was coming up with. What I would really like to know is who the author was thinking of while writing about Orpheus. I’m in love with that bad boy. I’d also like to know when the next Eternal Guardians book is coming out. Can’t wait! Please don”t keep us waiting too long. =)
December 6th, 2012 at 3:29 pm · Link
I enjoy forming my own mental picture from reading but then I like to see what the author envisioned as she was writing. Kinda fun to see the differences!
Rincon_ann at yahoo dot com
December 8th, 2012 at 5:30 pm · Link
I enjoy seeing how an author envisions her character. I think that, as an avid reader, I imprint my own imaginings onto any story that I read. I also enjoy seeing the inspiration that brought an author’s creative juices flowing when creating a particular character. It brings an added dimention to my enjoyment of her storytelling.