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Other Places To Find Hero Inspiration:

Do you find this page helpful?

The Hero Database...

Ever since I started using the 'Backwards Casting Method' for hero's and heroines in my books I've found it easier to capture the essence of my characters. And it's certainly a very handy way of keeping a clear mental picture of them visually for descriptive passages...

I even blogged about it:

"The biggest part of creating your story is casting your hero and heroine. And it's exactly like casting a movie.  We have in our minds eye an image of our characters, we know who they are and where the story will take them (in theory) and as the majority of romance writers are women it is only natural that we have some real fun picking the hero out.
You get to search for hours on the internet for research purposes... for pictures of great looking guys who look like your hero. It's a tough, time consuming job. It involves dedication, patience, a keen eye.

And it's not just finding the right guy. (Is it ever?) The picture that we're going to keep as a screensaver or clip to a board at our work station or paste to the top of our word doc has to give something in return for the honour of being cast. And this is where the artistry comes in.

There has to be something about him that embodies the essence of our hero; a look in the eyes, an expression, a hint of a smile. Something that hints at the man we have created on the page so that when we look at him, we don't see just a great looking guy in a photo. We see our hero. Is our guy troubled by something? Does he carry some hurt from his past? When he looks off into the distance what does he see, who does he see? When he smiles is he smiling at our heroine? When he gives us that smouldering look, what is about to happen? Who is the person behind the picture? What will he tell us to write as we look at him? So many questions. And all within the short format of a contemporary romance..."

So I started a Hero Database with the help of my Pink Heart Society friends... and for a while these potential hero's had their own page... A page I foolishly took down when the website was revamped! I have to say the cries of rage from across the globe have caught me off-guard... So here is the brand new updated version of it... I hope it helps and I'll be adding to it as often as I can manage...

My advice would be once you find the look you're aiming for - go do a Google picture search of the guys name to see what you come up with - cos you might find a picture of him that captures the 'mood' of your story better... and realistically, I only have so much space on my website...

If you have any additions you feel should be here then please email me  and the next time I do a revamp I'll add them in... Also - if you've found this page useful email me and and I'll add your comments on the sidebar...

There is also now a Heroine's Database here.

The Hero Database:

(names in colour are ones I've used for inspiration myself...)

Antonio Banderas

Eddie Cahill

Keanu Reeves

Gerard Butler

Ian Somerhalder

James Marsters

Jason Momoa

Jensen Ackles

John Cusack

John Schneider

Martin Henderson

Matthew MacFadyen

Pierce Brosnan

Raoul Bova

Sebastien Izambard

Tom Welling

Harrison Ford

Hart Bochner

Justin Bruening

Justin Hartley

Nigel Harmon

Orlando Bloom

Rufus Sewell

Sergio Garcia

Ben Browder

Eddie Cibrian

Eric Close

George Clooney

Heath Ledger

James Martin

Jamie Bamber

Jeremy Northam

John Abraham

Jonny Lee Millar

Keith Urban

Matthew Fox

Michael Wetherley

Sean Bean

Adam Scott

Ed Burns

Hugh Dancy

Josh Lucas

Matthew Goode

Nathan Fillion

Patrick Dempsey

Robert Kazinsky

Richard Armitage

Jared Padalecki

Brendan Fraser

Eoin Bailey

Eric Bana

Ewan McGregor

Goran Visnic

James Penfold

James Purefoy

Jessie Bradford

Joe Flanigan

Josh Brolin

Josh Duhamel

Matthew McConnaughey

Michael Vartan

Rodrigo Santoro

Sean Patrick Flanery

Billy Crudup

Dermot Mulroney

Hugh Jackman

Josh Hartnett

Michael Shanks

Michael T Weiss

Paul Walker

Richard Dean Anderson

Casper Van Dien

Christian Bale

Colin Farrell

Damien Lewis

David Boreanaz

Bill Petersen

Johnathan Schaech

John Stamos

Patrizio Buanne

Rory Cochrane

Shane West

Scott Foley

Ben Lawson

Adrian Grenier

David Duchovny

Charlie O'Connell

George Eads

Jonathan Rhys Myers

Nicholas Brendon

Olivier Martinez

Enrique Iglesias

Kiefer Sutherland

C Thomas Howell

Simon Baker

Dougray Scott

Chris O'Donnell

Dylan McDermott

Jonathan Togo

Marc Blucas

Kyle Chandler

Kevin Sorbo

Wentworth Millar

Christian Clark

Rupert Penry-Jones

Eduardo Verastegui

Eric Mabius

Gael Garcia Bernal

Scott McGregor

Sendil Ramamurthy

Kavan Smith

Adam Rodriguez

Chris Hemsworth

James Franco

Ryan McPartlin

Eduardo Verastegui

Sean Maher

Andy Ashton

Brad Pitt

Matt Damon

Matthew Davis

Til Schweiger

David Conrad

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