When I was working on The Christmas Bargain, there were a few visuals I used to keep myself on track.
I find that having visuals really helps me focus, imagine and be creative as I write the story.
First, I started with our hero, Luke.
Luke Granger is tall and handsome, confident and strong. He has blond hair, icy blue eyes and a dimple in his chin. Luke is honorable, fun-loving, loyal and tough with a big sweet-tooth.
Myles Pollard made the perfect Luke.
Perfect.
From that strong jaw and dimpled chin to his sandy-blond hair, he looks exactly how I pictured Luke.
Filly, our heroine, grew up with an independent, outgoing nature until a tragedy altered her life drastically. When Luke comes to her rescue, the old Filly slowly starts to emerge from her shell. She has mahogany colored hair, holly green eyes, is tall and graceful. Filly thinks of others before she thinks of herself and loves the outdoors.
Amanda Righetti is just how Filly looks in my head – beautiful, strong, friendly, fun.
From that gorgeous long red hair to her wonderful smile, Amanda is spot-on as Filly.
The other visual I referred to quite a bit was of Granger House, Luke’s home.
Granger House is a three-story yellow home with turrets, gables, a walk-around porch. A lot of the story takes place in the kitchen, front entry and parlor. I loved everything about this house. The only thing that could have made it more like Granger House in the story is if the photo showed the house dusted with snow.
Filly loves to ride horses and at one time wanted to be a trick-rider. She practices some of her stunts on the mare Luke gives her to ride.
This photo gave me a great visual of what Filly might have looked like practicing her stunts.
If you can find photos, or any sort of visual representation of your characters and settings, it can really be an asset in the creative process.
