Sunday with Author, Pat Cunningham

Hi everyone. Have a happy Thanksgiving Day week. Here's a blog that was just featured at TITLE MAGIC. But, I thought you all might enjoy it too.

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~

Central Casting

It took me long enough, but after close to a year of writing (and avoiding writing, but that’s another blog) I finally finished Legacy, my sequel to Belonging, and sent it off to Siren, who were kind enough to accept it. I’ve never denied my male leads were inspired by Sam, Dean and Castiel from Supernatural – or, in my version, Jeremy, Wallace the vampire, and the mysterious slayer known as the Preacher. (I chose that particular photo because the Preacher favors black. Tan trenchcoats tend to stand out in the dark.)

This isn’t the first time I’ve cast a favorite actor as the lead in one of my stories. Dialogue writing gets so much easier when you can “hear” the words spoken in a specific voice and rhythm. (Probably why I’ve never used William Shatner.) If you’re the kind who visualizes as you write, then hey, who wouldn’t want to imagine a naked Christian Bale or shirtless, Star Wars era Harrison Ford for weeks on end? I love romance writing.

Waiting patiently in my closet is a romance in draft I’ve been meaning to get back to. The lead, Sam McCollough, is a Texas boy and art thief looking to leave the biz, buy a boat, and sail around the world. The voice I heard when I started writing him was 1980s Don Johnson. Sam became a rough-but-tender guy with piercing eyes, a quick, boyish smile, and a perpetual five o’clock shadow. I’d sail around the world with him any day of the week.

Vin here was an accident. I wrote a flash scene for my other blog, Shapeshifter Seductions, about a dragon shifter. I described a tall, muscular male with a bald head and cavernous voice. After the fact I realized I’d imagined Vin Diesel. Picture that body covered in flame tattoos and that drifting-up-out-of-a-cave voice drawling at you and yeah, you’ve got a dragon. I’ve already seen Pitch Black and The Pacifier, so when I finally get around to expanding the flash, I think I’ll rent Fast 5 for research. That way I get both Vin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. This job gets better and better.

Speaking of shapeshifters and wrestling, I wanted a menacing, no-nonsense Russian assassin, so I based Sergei on WWE’s Undertaker. Mark Calloway’s 7-foot, pumped-up frame was perfect for my white tiger. Picture that guy over there as an albino with icy blue eyes and that’s Sergei. Tough? Calloway has his wife’s name tattooed on his throat. Now that’s tough.

My current WIP concerns cat shifters. I haven’t quite decided on my lead yet, other than he’s blond, but I’ve got a good match for his romantic interest: Ian Somerhalder from The Vampire Diaries. Check out those eyes. Is that a cat or what? Mee-yow.

You’ll notice there are no pictures of actresses up there. I usually have only a vague idea of what, or who, my heroines look like. My mental image of their men is always more concrete. Can’t imagine why that would be … If I ever cancelled cable, I’d probably have to give up writing. Now, about that M/M/M ménage …
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Pat Cunningham can be found hanging out at:

SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS
TITLE MAGIC

Her books are available at ~ bookstrand.com/pat-cunningham ~