Although men are said to be more visually oriented than women, I’ve found that good eye candy goes a long way to helping my writing. I have to admit that one of the factors that provided impetus to my writing my first novel, Entangled, was the June model on a 2003 calendar. He bore such a striking similarity to my mental image of my hero that my brain just screamed, “Lantis!” as soon as I saw him. It helped more than I can say that I had that picture available for reference.

Here’s another picture that’s close to my mental image of Lantis. I’m not sure what exactly clicked. Maybe the hair or the eyes or the unsmiling expression?

I was lucky that I already had a picture of the hero in my first Aphrodisia novella even before I started writing. His physical description actually influenced the plot and was pivotal in Colin becoming a fire mage.

Which doesn’t necessarily mean writing “Night Pleasures” was all smooth sailing. In the spirit of procrastination, I ended up modeling my main characters, using one of those doll/avatar websites.

Right now, I’m in the middle of writing my second Aphrodisia novella and I’m having some difficulty since I don’t have a picture of my hero. I mean, how many models are there with salt-and-pepper hair?!? If anyone can e-mail me a picture of a guy with salt-and-pepper hair, good-looking in a Teutonic sort of way (broad, high cheekbones and strong nose) AND built like a tank, I’d be very grateful, so grateful I’ll send her an autographed cover flat of Wild Nights. Deadline for submission is 11:59pm EDT, May 12, 2006. Anyone up to the challenge?