Honestly, I had such a good time writing four sweet romances in The Friendly Beasts of Faraday.
Of course, a real-life camel was the first inspiration, but I needed humans, too!
For Scent of Cedar, I knew I wanted the hero to have a bad boy vibe, even though he’s a really sweet guy.
The minute I happened upon this image of Zachary Abel, I knew I’d found Rhett Riggs, resident bad boy of Faraday. Well, at least that’s what I decided after I wiped the drool off my keyboard.
That hair, that chin, that smolder… swoon-worthy, I tell you.
But at the end of the day, Rhett is a good guy who is pretty selfless.
Did I mention swooning, though? This particular image inspired a scene in his garage with Cedar and her sister.
So who would be the perfect Cedar Haynes? It needed to be someone beautiful. Someone sophisticated. Someone I could imagine as a woman freaking out over a camel, then learning to love Lolly and her owner.
Brooke D’Orsay seemed perfect for Cedar.
She filled all the requirements I was looking for.
I could easily see her giving Rhett this look.
And Lolly this one!
Speaking of Lolly, before my illustrator finished the cover, I relied on this image for my inspiration.
Isn’t this perfect for our fun-loving, scheming, matchmaking camel?
Check out all the visuals from Pinterest that inspired me here: Friendly Beasts
Oh, and you should listen to Garth Brooks’ version of The Friendly Beasts while you do because that’s the song I listened to while I wrote this story.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsUSfk8EDfg]
