Define Hawt… with Stacy Gail

So my buddy Stacy writes some of the hawtest characters I know, and I thought, here on the release of her latest novel, WOUNDED ANGEL, it would be fun to explore inside her brain a little to see what she likes, what inspires her and how exactly she goes about infusing hawtness…

Tart: So tell us about the first CELEBRITY you fell in love with and how he defined hawtness for you… or… was it foxiness back then?

Stacy: BACK THEN?!? What do you mean, BACK THEN??? *desperately covers gray hair* Though, yeah, I guess since Rob Lowe was the first dude to trip my girlish trigger (and he’s now looking like a mile of bad road), I think that’s a fair cop. ^_^ What about you, Your Tartness? Who was first to rev your motor, and does he fall into the hawtness era, or the foxiness era?


Tart: Erm... Shaun Cassidy. And no comments from the peanut gallery. But in my defense, he made a mighty fine Joe Hardy...

Say... were there early book heroes you fell for, too?

Stacy: Omigosh, I have SO MANY book-boyfriends! I think my first one ever was one of the main characters in the Trixie Belden series. Jim Frayne was a bad-boy-turned-good hero that made my grade-school heart melt. Strangely enough, though, the one that always stuck with me was Stu Redman, a hero in Stephen King’s “The Stand.” I know that Stephen King’s name doesn’t usually pop up when talking about book-boyfriends, but Stu was something else again. At least I didn’t say Tom Cullen. M-O-O-N, that spells Tom Cullen ;)

Tart: Stu, huh? I wouldn't have pegged you for a Stu sort... or maybe that is me who he didn't quite work for. Probably because I had an actual Stu, or rather Stew, and I confounded the two... So have you analyzed a little? What are those special qualities that make your heart patter and your knees go weak?

Stacy: *snort* It’s funny how you expect me to analyze things. How long have you known me again??? But back to the question… The hottest thing in the world HAS to be the brain, since both Jim Frayne and Stu Redman used their wits when the heat was on. Sapiosexual – that’s me.

Mmmmmmmmmm, brainsssss. AMIRITE??? Sexiest organ the human body has. *nods*

Tart: Ah, yes... sexy brainy boys... I can go along with that... And how do you tap that when you’re writing characters?

Stacy: *struggles to keep straight face* Um… “tap that”, Your Tartness? Did you really just say… tap that??? 

Okay, okay, I’ll behave. :P

Before I officially start writing any book, I do character outlines, including names that almost always have a hidden meaning, to hair color (which has no meaning whatsoever *snort*), to multi-layered backstories. Example: the book that’s releasing this week, WOUNDED ANGEL, is the third in a four-book miniseries called The Earth Angels (published by Carina Press). Before I wrote one word of any of these books, I spent an entire night outlining the four sets of characters that would populate these books, as well as mapping out the story arc and what would happen in each book. If memory serves, I wrote over four-thousand words that night, but ultimately I had these wily, multi-faceted characters who have vital roles to play and mysteries to solve. At least in part, their collective intellect will help bring the world back from the brink of an apocalypse.

Annnnnd now you don’t have to read the series since I just let the cat out of the bag. *facepalm*


Tart: Okay, I walked into that...  At least it's a llama... Who’s your favorite character you’ve written and why?

Stacy: *moons The Tart* Which of your children is your favorite?

Tart: The one that loves me most, so there. But that changes regularly... So you're a visual person and I know you've kept a pinterest file of images for the last several books you've written. Would you mind sharing these images for your latest book and giving a little explainer as to how the images inspired you while you were writing?

Stacy: Sure!  When I put together a storyboard, I scour Teh Interwebz for the right look/feel of the characters. In WOUNDED ANGEL this was kind of tricky, since the heroine, Ella, had once been Gabriella Littlefield, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a naïve, "soft" look.  Ella had not only changed her looks after enduring a life-changing traumatic event, she also changed her name, location and even her attitude and aspects of her personality.  Eventually I stumbled upon some great Charlize Theron photos that best depicted this profound change. These photos proved to me anew that if given enough time and motivation, a person can change their appearance to the point where they're almost unrecognizable, and that helped me define Ella.

Tart:  Oh, nice--same woman, different look.


Stacy:  Now, if you want to talk about the photo depicting how Nate and Ella get to cooking in the kitchen... well, you know what they say--one picture is worth a thousand words. :D

 

Will that do?  Also, here's the link to my Wounded Angel Pinterest board:  

http://pinterest.com/stacygailauthor/building-a-book-wounded-angel/

Tart:  *snort*

Wounded Angel Blurb: 

Book three of The Earth Angels
A descendant of the Angel of Vengeance, Nate da Luca was gifted with an uncanny ability to find things. It made his job as a detective a breeze—until he learned the hard way that some things should remain hidden. After that, his powers vanished, along with his belief in himself. Which is going to make tracking down Gabriella Littlefield for his latest client a challenge.

Personal trainer Ella Little paid a hefty price for her life—now all she wants is to live it in peace. Then a sexy hulk of a man turns up in her gym, reigniting desires she thought she'd left behind along with her real name and hair color.

Desires she can't deny even after she discovers Nate's no stranger to her dark past.
Before he can convince her the attraction is mutual, Nate's going to have to earn Ella's trust. But a demon is playing for keeps in the world of humans, using Ella as bait, and the last thing they have is time…
  

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