Casting Your Book

I've had the flu all week, so my apologies for being a bit sparse around the blog this week.

I'm also running low on brain power so I'm shamelessly borrowing an idea from Romance Worth Killing For.

Do you cast your books? Do you find suitable visual stand-ins for your hero and heroine to inspire you? In reading blogs, I noticed that a lot of authors seem to do this, and take a lot of pleasure in finding just the right pictures.

So, sometime back I decided to try to do this for my WIP:
This is my heroine. Genevieve "Gen" Sullivan. My "star search" sent me in the direction of a lot of blond actresses. But, all seemed a bit too plastic for this heroine. Drew Barrymore's look in Never Been Kissed epitomizes the goofy-cute style of my heroine and her self-concious, but still zany sense of humor. I look at this picture to remind myself of her core qualities.

Slap a ponytail on him, and this is my hero, Daniel Fair. Finding a suitable "actor" for my hero was a bit more a challenge. First, this hero is not the typical alpha hero. That ruled out 99% of the male-model type shots. However, he's not a ugly-duckly or some skinny nerd either. He's buff but sensitive. Like with my search for the heroine, I started with obvious physical characteristic and poured through dozens of pictures of pony-tailed guys. After finding the heroine through finding someone who embodied her essence, not just her physical traits, I asked myself who could *really* play this part. After all, hair can be grown/added. After seeing Tahmoh Penikett on both Smallville and Battlestar Galactica, I couldn't see anyone else playing the part. Buff, sensitive, not too talkative, not too alpha, quietly charismatic. I'll forgive him the whole no-ponytail thing.

Sometimes, I use my chosen "actors" to help me with characterization---is this how she'd play the part? What facial expression might she use? How would he react? Other times, I ignore the visual, preferring to rely on an internal picture of the character that's more unique and true to my vision. Sometimes, I use both in the same scene.

For my YA, I haven't been able to find the right image. She's a cross between the high school versions of Sookie on Gilmore Girls and Rachel Ray, but also has a snarky side that I just can't find a visual that truly captures.

So, how about you? Who's staring in your current WIP? Who's inspired past MS? Links to pictures would be great! Does the "casting" thing work for you or do you find it a waste of time? If it works for you, how do you find the "perfect" image? Discuss and share your eye candy with the rest of us.