A reader recently asked me, if Oathtaker was a movie, who did I see playing the characters? For me, the real difficulty in this question is knowing that whatever celebrity names and faces I choose, someone will not like them. It is amazing what strong feelings we have about celebrities, either because of their past work, or possibly as a result of the bits and pieces we hear about their private lives . . . But I will give this a shot, nonetheless.
I thought I would start with my main character, Mara. Mara is a young woman who, by and large, I did not describe in Oathtaker—with one notable exception. I mentioned that she has a spattering of freckles across her nose. Dixon finds them amusing—attractive, even. The “face” I chose for Mara on my cover is that of Mybelin Hernandez. She does not have freckles, but I imagine if she ever played the part of Mara, we could add them This is Mybelin reading Oathtaker:
http://phatpuppyart.com/p162600982/h13a1780a#h13a1780a
http://phatpuppyart.com/p698357328/h2945a56f#h2945a56f
http://phatpuppyart.com/p698357328/h2d09c8f#h2d09c8f
http://phatpuppyart.com/p698357328/h24ad853a#h24ad853a
http://phatpuppyart.com/p698357328/h1d3fc032#h1d3fc032
http://phatpuppyart.com/p698357328/h119e1a06#h119e1a06
I find Mybelin lovely and . . . versatile. In fact, when I look at her pics, I cannot tell they are of the same person from one to the next.
As to Dixon, I always imagined someone rather quiet and . . . intense. Interestingly, there are two actors who I find fit the bill. I appreciate their portrayals in sad and serious scenes. Their eyes tell it all. Yet, their expressions of joy are entirely carefree, making me want to know what all the fun is about! They are, Zac Effron and Chad Michael Murray.
Here is Zac:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ZacEfron/posts; and
http://www.zefron.com/gallery/index.php?cat=15.
And here is Chad Michael Murray:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Chad_Michael_Murray_in_2007.jpg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Michael_Murray&h=275&w=183&tbnid=u-cawQHBldo0PM:&zoom=1&tbnh=186&tbnw=123&usg=__wmt5P6QVGkGZpbU_1HVX80IBXHM=&docid=Q-FqxSCemOSQXM&itg=1&client=safari&sa=X&ei=SvnTU-6uEY2hyASHn4D4Dw&ved=0CJgBEPwdMAo.
Oh! Oh, oh, oh! Here is another option for Dixon: James Maslow.
I’m betting that many young women would agree with my choices here. Yes?
Readers: Who do you see in these roles?
The character Crow, from my novel As the Crow Flies, is the obvious choice for this endeavor, so I'm going with him. When I wrote the book, I didn't have a picture sitting by my computer to prompt or inspire me, but I had a very strong sense of him. In fact, I didn't have a picture to represent Crow until after I started a Pinterest board for the novel. Crazy, right?
I found one fine-looking fellow, then another, then... my daughter came to me one day and said, "MOM! I know the perfect guy to play Crow!”
Find out more here.
I have always loved deep forests and mountains. It seems natural, then, that when I began to write stories I would set them in such green and mystical old places of the world. Some of the most inspiring images in my head are things I have seen in this world: the ancient woods of Wales, the deep canyons and caves in Pennsylvania and Arizona. There are wonders to behold in our very backyards that strike me as otherworldly.
Find out more here.
Thank you for joining us. Please stop by again.