Monday morning musings

This weekend was spent with a cold. I retired to bed and managed to finish the Bridgeton series by Julia Quinn. All of them are enjoyable, but my favourites were The Viscount who Loved Me and To Sir Philip with Love. I know On the Way to the Wedding won the Rit, but it was not one of my favourites. Quinn is a great story teller and her Regency World is a fun place to visit, even though she has a lot of unknown unknowns in her work. It is a strength of her story telling ability that one is willing to overlook them when in a lesser storyteller, they would have grated.

Slowly but surely I am working through my admin. The newsletter with a contest to win Christmas by Candlelight -- the UK version of A Christmas Wedding Wager than includes Helen Dickson's Wicked Pleasures will be out shortly. I also have to send off my Rita entries and my RNA Romance Prize entries.

6 October marks the return of Sir Guy of Gisbourne or is it Robin Hood to the BBC? My problem is that Robin is a bit wet for my tastes and last season there was very little sexual tension between Marian and Robin, but when the screen sizzled when it was Marian and Sir Guy. Should Richard Armitage have played Robin? Should someone else have played Robin, somone who is a far stronger personality than Jonas whatshisface?

Actually it was this realisation that led me to change the hero slightly in the ms that I just turned in. I knew Simon, the hero of the one I am starting today was going to be based on Richard Armitage, but he is such a strong character that he dominates. Brett had to be based on an equally strong character but a different ilk -- so once I changed actors to James Purefoy I was fine.

It is not so much that I base my characters on the actors but rather that I could see them playing the part. An actor brings a slightly different approach to each role. And sometimes, a lot can be achieved by firing your actors and hiring someone else for the part IF your characters are not behaving as you wish.