I freely admit I am a very visual person. I need to see things (whether in my head or for real) to really get them.
One thing I am learning to do is to find photos that remind me of characters, places and things in the story I’m writing. It is a huge help. Especially when I get stuck and need some inspiration. I stare at the photos and ponder what she would feel or he would say or what something would look like.
Here are some of the visuals I used for my new book Learnin’ The Ropes.
Let’s start with Ty.
Chris Hemsworth was the perfect Ty Lewis. And I somehow forced myself to look through dozens of photos of Chris until I found just the right one.
It was a hardship.
Truly.
I might never fully recover.
Seriously!
Captain Cavedweller didn’t believe me either.
Anyway, Chris is just the right height for Ty, has that stubbly bad-boy aura and then there is that hair.
And those blue, blue eyes.
Nuff said.
Minka Kelly is exactly how I pictured Lexi Jo Ryan. Beautiful, strong, confident, smart.
Did I mention sassy and stubborn with gorgeous hair and a flair for fashion?
Although she runs a successful ranch, there is a part of Lexi that loves dressing up and being girlie. Almost as much as she loves riding horses and watching Ty work.
Walter Brennan makes the best Swede, the ranch foreman. He’s crusty and a little rough around the edges with a twang that can be hard to follow, but he loves the ranch and thinks of Lexi as a daughter. He takes Ty under his wing with plans to “learn ya up” in the ways of ranching.
Baby is the ranch dog. She tolerates the ranch hands, runs off any stray men, but immediately adopts Ty as her very own human. Baby loves to play jokes and will open any unlocked door.
Ty worked as a mechanic in Portland until he was laid off. Now he’s unemployed and desperate for work.
So desperate, in fact, he’s been living in his pickup for more than a month while he tries without success to find a job.
Which is how he ends up driving to the Rockin’ R Ranch in Harney County, Oregon. Anyone who has been in this part of Eastern Oregon knows the High Desert country is filled with miles and miles of sagebrush. Ty thought he may have reached the last stopping point before the end of the earth as he drove to the ranch.
Assuming Lex Ryan of Riley, Oregon, owner and manager of the Rockin’ R Ranch is a man, Ty is in for a big surprise when he meets the boss. He never, in a million years, expected to find a woman running a ranch in the middle of nowhere. Especially not such a beautiful young woman.
Between Lexi and Swede, they get Ty into “cowboy mode” while he begins Learnin’ the Ropes of ranching, rural life and falling in love.
You can find the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.com!
