Linda's Casting Couch, Part II (or, This is Where You Find Out the Identities of the Hot Men on the Storyboard)

So in the last post I discussed my character-casting process (is too a process, albeit a convoluted one). As a reminder, here's the storyboard I made for the Always characters (and I forgot to say in the last post, I keep this up where I can see it as I write):

The Always Storyboard

Now here's a list of the actors and actresses who will bring Always to life once a Hollywood producer snaps up the book (ooh, it's so pretty here in my fantasy world, isn't it?), and a few notes on the most important characters and why I chose these particular actors/actresses to be their models.

Rendie Miller Nielsen – Cobie Smulders (Robin Scherbatsky on How I Met Your Mother). Rendie is our heroine, raised by her single mother in near-poverty in Southwest Detroit, virtually alone in the world when she meets Jake and the Nielsen family. Cobie's character of Robin is my hall of fame girlcrush, because she's pretty enough to have three different guys chasing after her (but believably so; Cobie's not afraid to look like something the cat dragged in when the script requires it), and she's also strong, capable, funny, vulnerable, and has more than her share of neuroses. So of course, she immediately popped into my head when I thought of Rendie. I wanted Rendie to be a girl who could believably be one of the guys, partly because she's a baseball and hockey fanatic, and Cobie pulls that type of thing off as Robin magnificently. I've never seen her play angsty, which will be required when she plays Rendie, of course, but I have no doubt that she can do it.

Detective Mike Nielsen – Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack Carter on Eureka). Mike, our hero, is Rendie's brother-in-law. He's a handsome, charming, cynical, guarded, and overachieving NYPD detective who harbors an unrequited love for Rendie that he's kept to himself for the two and a half years he's known her—and he's consumed by guilt that he loves his brother's wife. Mike was the first character I cast, and Colin Ferguson was the only person I ever even considered for him. You gotta have a great hero, and trust me, Colin Ferguson is great. Check him out in Eureka, either on YouTube or Netflix. Especially the series pilot—that IS Mike. CF is not only a wonderful actor, he's hot as all getout. As is Mike (wow, what a coincidence!). In fact, I would go so far as to say Mike is my favorite character that I've ever written. Ever. He's alpha male, he's funny, he's sarcastic, and he's got walls around him the size of the Green Monster in Fenway Park (which is like catnip to chicks—we're driven to knock down those walls). In short, he's a wonderful onion (he's got layers—TM Donkey from Shrek). I am just so proud of this character. 

Officer Jake Nielsen – Josh Lucas (Jake, Reese Witherspoon's ex-husband, in Sweet Home Alabama). Jake, Rendie's husband, is an NYPD patrol officer who's killed in the line of duty. Rendie refers to Jake several times as Captain America; he's a sweet, idealistic, honorable hero of a guy who's proud of his part in protecting the city that he loves. So of course he has to die. I think Shelley suggested Josh Lucas first, and as soon as she said it I was like, YES! He is so perfect! We'd already picked the name Jake by that time, btw, so we didn't name him after his character in Sweet Home Alabama. And P.S. picture that pretty, pretty face when you eventually read the book and you'll understand why I blubbered like a baby when I wrote the scene with Rendie crying over Jake's dead body in the hospital. Poor Jake.

Detective JC Cruz – Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko from CSI: Miami). The former undercover detective who's Rendie's first fling after Jake's death. My friend Wendy actually pictured Adam Rodriguez as Dan Esposito when she read our first book. I already had Mark Consuelos (who of course has now been supplanted by Danny Pino) in mind, so I kept Adam on hold for a future character. When I watched CSI: Miami for the first time to check him out, I not only got hooked on the crack that is CSI: Miami, I got hooked on Eric Delko, who is oh so yummy (if dumb as a stump at times in his personal life). I knew he would be a great choice for the hot, sexy Latino bad boy JC, who jump-starts Rendie's heart (and other assorted parts) again after Jake's death, then breaks said heart, but manages to redeem himself in the end.

Amy Bartkowiak Mariotti – Bonnie Somerville (NYPD Blue, Mona on Friends). Mike's former fiancée, who's back in town with her sons after divorcing her husband. I don't really know Bonnie S very well, and that's okay. Amy is beautiful, blonde, elegant Hot Suburban Mom Barbie personified, and because she's a paragon of perfection, it's easier for me to feel Rendie's dislike for her if I'm not too attached to her. Amy was only a passing mention in the first draft. Then she became a much larger characters as the idea of Mike fleeing back to her developed in my head.

Julie Nielsen Szymanski – Allison Mack (Chloe Sullivan from Smallville). Mike and Jake's little sister and one of Rendie's best friends. Bright, energetic, funny, snarky, loyal, a little pushy, and with a heart as big as New York City. I loved Allison Mack as Chloe, Clark's plucky best friend, in Smallville, so when I happened upon her during my IMDB search, I knew she'd be perfect. 

Nicole Perry – Rosario Dawson (Movie actress, best known for Sin City and Men in Black II). Rendie's best friend since college, and her roommate before she marries Jake. Nic is sultry, sexy, and unabashedly loves men and sex. She's the shoulder Rendie cries on, and she's also Rendie's conscience, like a best friend should be. I've always liked Rosario Dawson, so she's another one I thought of right away when Shelley came up with the character of Nic.

Joanie Miller – Lauren Graham (Lorelai from The Gilmore Girls). Rendie's late mother. We only "see" Joanie in Rendie's thoughts, but she looks like she could be Cobie Smulders' mom. Same coloring, and she just has that same tough-but-vulnerable edge to me.

Here are the rest of the characters, but I'm not going to go into as much detail, because this post is way too long already:

Todd Szymanski – John Krasinski (Jim from The Office). Julie's husband, a sweet, laid-back guy.

Barb Nielsen – Debra Jo Rupp (the mom from That 70s Show). Rendie's mother-in-law and an LEO (law enforcement officer) wife/mother herself. She's Supermom – capable, loving, a little bossy. She helps Rendie adjust to life as an LEO wife.

Rich Nielsen – Jamey Sheridan (Captain Deakins, Law & Order: Criminal Intent). Rendie's father-in-law, a retired NYPD commander, who, like Rendie, takes it especially hard when his younger son is killed.

Officer Steve Pirelli – Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli from Heroes). Jake's longtime partner and best friend.

Ginny Shapiro Pirelli – Melanie Lynskey (Rose on Two and a Half Men). Steve's wife and one of Rendie's best friends.

Dr. Abbey – Richard Gilliland (J.D. from Designing Women). Rendie's therapist, who helps her work through her grief.

So there you have it—Linda's creative casting process. It's definitely not a science, and you can't call it art, either—it's just my half-assed way of making my characters come to life in my head, so I can (hopefully) make them come to life on the page.

I guess we'll see if I'm as successful in conveying them to the rest of the world as I am to myself if—no, WHEN (I'm being positive today) this thing ever gets published.

Do you cast characters in your head as you're reading a book? If so, share some of your favorite choices with me in the comments below. I'd love to hear about them!

Linda's Casting Couch, Part I (or, How Those Voices End Up In My Head)

Where the magic happens (excuse the mess)

Okay, I know the title sounds icky, but just wash that dirty mind of yours out with soap because the story is that I usually cast the characters in my books while I'm sitting on the living room couch with my laptop. Our super-comfortable leather recliner couch (left) is usually where I do my writing these days (and a big reason why my butt's so big—it's so comfortable I hate to get up).

 But I digress (as usual). Back to my character "casting" process…I need to hear the characters' voices and see their appearances in my head when I start to write. The easiest way to do that is to "cast" each character, so I can channel them as I'm writing. So what I do is start looking for actors and actresses who are the same ages as my characters by flipping through IMDB.com, Google images, and YouTube videos until the right person clicks in my head.

Then I create what I call my storyboard, with photos of the actors and actresses I've chosen. Yes, technically, it's not a storyboard, because that has…y'know, a story, but this is my process so suck it up, nitpickers. I label each photo with the character's name, and add a few scrapbooking embellishments to go with the theme of the story. It doesn't take all that long, and it's a lot of fun.

As an example, I thought I'd show you who I "cast" as my characters in Always, the book I recently completed:

The Always Storyboard

A little background on the book first:

Always is the story of a young police wife, Rendie Miller Nielsen, who loses her husband of two years, Jake, when he's killed in the line of duty. Not surprisingly she has a tough time coping; she withdraws from friends, family, and her life, trying to deal with her grief the way she's always dealt with everything before she met Jake: alone. Eventually, though, she finds her way back to Jake's family (the only real family she's ever known) and they help her return to a "normal" life (well, as normal as life can be when you're a thirty-two-year-old widow).

When she finally emerges from her grieving period and is ready to date again, Rendie has a fling with a hot detective friend that ends badly. Then she accidentally discovers that her brother-in-law and best buddy Mike, an NYPD detective who was her rock after Jake's death, has been in love with her from the moment they met. While she grapples with that knowledge, with her own feelings for Mike, and with her inability to deal with the fact that Jake's truly gone, Mike's guilt over loving his brother's wife drives him back into the arms of his former fiancée Amy in an effort to forget Rendie for good.

Will Mike's guilt, and Rendie's reluctance to let go of the past, keep them from finding happiness together? Have you ever watched a Hallmark Channel romantic movie? Then you probably already know the answer. Hey, this is a beach read, folks, not great literature.

In the next post, I'll identify the Who's Who of Always-ville (aka NYC – Morningside Heights, Manhattan and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn), tell you who I've cast, and give you a little more information about each character.

Inaugural Tiger Beat Crush of the Week: Danny Pino

I'm not sure why, but I'm feeling a little depressed today. So maybe this is a good time to start the promised Tiger Beat Crush of the Week feature*. Because hot men make me happy.

First, a little background: Since I was a little girl madly in love with David Selby, who played Quentin Collins on Dark Shadows (okay, I just dated myself), and writing really awful fanfiction with him as the hero, I've appreciated a good-looking guy. My crushes have been many, because I'm a teenybopper at heart and I always will be. BTW, you can expect a Hall of Fame TBCotW post on Mr. Selby someday very soon, because he really WAS my first Tiger Beat crush, TB magazine photos on the wall and all. 

My wonderful husband Mr. Bud accepts this about me, because he knows he will always be my firstest and bestest love (and probably because I let him look at boobacious actresses to make up for it). So we're cool. He just rolls his eyes and goes on about his business when I start my squealing.

The girls I work with (Pam, Cathy, and Angela, the previously-mentioned Girls of Megacube) think my crushes are a riot, and they've been after me to start a Tiger Beat Crush of the Week feature for ages. They just don't understand that it's all about the art, not about the lust--as you might remember me saying in an earlier post, I often use my crushes as models for the heroes in my writing. So really, I'm not shallow--okay, wait, let me stop giggling. I'm not shal...oh, hell, I can't keep a straight face. Yes, it's all about the hotness with me. 

So let's kick off the Tiger Beat Crush of the Week series with the extremely hot guy I picture as the hero of my work in progress: Danny Pino (Danny Pino - IMDB).

You may remember Danny P as the extremely hot, angsty, and unable-to-keep-it-in-his-pants detective Scotty Valens on Cold Case (I love that show! Best use of music ever, and I cry at the end of every episode). He currently plays the extremely hot, somewhat angsty detective, father, and husband (but I'm laying bets that marriage isn't gonna make it in season 14) Nick Amaro on Law & Order: SVU. Yes, he's Chris Meloni's replacement, if you're a Stabler fan. Sorry about that. But not really, because it keeps Danny P on my screen every week. 

I first saw Danny Pino as I channel-surfed past L&O:SVU one Saturday night when there was nothing else on TV. I'd never watched the show before, but my first thought when I saw  him was, "Ooh! Hot Latino detective! Pretty! I'm watching this!" What can I say? I'm a sucker for dark-haired, dark-eyed men like my own Mr. Bud.

Well, I not only got hooked on the show, I got hooked on Danny Pino, too, and systematically began searching out everything I could find with him in it. I was pleased to discover that he's a darn good actor. BTW, latest DP discovery: Flicka. The movie is meh and I want to slap the spoiled teenaged heroine silly, but it has Maria Bello, who rocks, in it--and best of all, Danny P has a shirtless scene. Yes, my shallowness knows no bounds. And that link with the shirtless photo is an awesome Danny Pino site, btw. Not that I go there much. Shut up.

But even more than the uncontrollable drooling he induces in me, know what I like the best about Danny P? I mean beside the fact that this Cuban-American makes my knees weak, especially when he speaks Spanish on Cold Case in that lovely deep voice of his?  (That's a YouTube clip that'll show you what I mean. Es muy sexyyyy, to quote a very articulate commenter there.)

I like that he's (from all accounts) an extremely nice guy, that he's close to his family, that he's a good dad to his two little boys, and that he remembers where he came from by giving back to his community. Most of all, I like that his wife, who is his junior high sweetheart, is not a Botoxed, anorexic starlet-slash-bimbo and yet he appears to be absolutely nuts about her. Take THAT, you society with unrealistic expectations of what a real woman is, you!

Personally, I think his wife is adorable (see the YouTube clip below, and this photo)--she's short, she's a little rounded in all the right places, just like the rest of us, and she looks like someone who'd be fun to hang out with. She'd fit right in as a Girl of Megacube. Hmm...I guess I need to add Lilly Pino to my list of girl crushes (yes, I have those too, but they're more the "I want to be like her when I grow up" variety).

Anyway, back to Lilly's yummy husband, his is the face I see and the voice I hear as I write the character of Daniel Joseph Esposito, Manhattan real estate broker extraordinaire, love interest of heroine Kelly Reid, and hero of the third book, which I'm writing now (in a future post, I'll tell you more about the book and its other characters, and talk a little more about how I "cast" the characters I write. Right now, we just care about Dan).

Dan Esposito was the secondary love interest in the first book Shelley and I wrote, not the hero. We wrote him (and I have to give a lot of the credit to Shelley, since she developed the bio for his character) as the quintessential Italian bad boy and heartbreaker--a metrosexual-but-manly confirmed bachelor (and a good, loving son, because we ladies all have a soft spot for those guys) who will never settle down.

Since the book as it was didn't appear to be destined for publication, and Dan consistently ended up being most people's favorite character--in fact, Shelley and I both liked him better than our hero, which should have told me something right there--we completely trashed the storyline and I came up with a new story. The original hero exited stage left (maybe to be resurrected some day when he's not overshadowed by Dan Esposito, Super Broker, maybe not), and Dan moved into the spotlight as the new hero. 

My original model for Dan was Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa's husband, who is also a handsome, charming devil and will be a future TBCotW ("Who won't?" I can hear the Girls of Megacube hooting). But almost the second I saw Danny Pino I knew he was the new Dan Esposito I needed, and just that quickly Dan was recast in my head (sorry, Mark). To me, Danny P has the additional gravitas, depth, and alpha masculinity needed for the more mature, morally conflicted, ready-to-settle-down Dan Esposito.

So do yourself a favor and check out some of Danny Pino's work (especially Cold Case. Scotty Valens and Lilly Rush = my favorite TV cop team ever. 

But bring some Kleenex, because I am NOT kidding about the crying every episode). 

And Danny, I promise, as soon as the book is finished and published, and the movie rights are sold and the screenplay is done (wow, it's so pretty here in my happy place, isn't it?), I'll send you the script. You you don't even have to audition--the part of Dan Esposito is yours. Just make sure you bring your Lilly with you on location, and while you're filming the Girls of Megacube will take her to lunch at our favorite restaurant (known fondly among us as Crack Salsa). We'll even have a special Crafty Day in her honor and make our special dishes for her. We're a really fun group; I think she'll fit in just fine.

*Sorry there are only links, rather than photos. There seems to be a rash of legal action being taken against bloggers who insert photos into their posts, even if they credit the photographers. So better safe, as they say.

Sweat, Determination, and...Delusion?

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work." 

--Colin Powell

I'll admit, the hard work that writing actually is was a bit of a surprise to me when I started writing fiction. But it was work I took to immediately--it's the first "job" (non-paying at the moment, of course) I've ever had where I'm happier the harder I work. I'm like a pig in mud, as they say, when it comes to learning more about the craft of writing, which I've done through reading, taking classes, joining professional associations, networking with other writers, and going to conferences. It's a LOT of work, and it takes up a lot of my time (ask poor Mr. Bud, again, the most patient of the patient). And I love every minute of it...

...even though sometimes (okay, lots of times) it seems like I'll never pay back my investment of all this time and effort. I still despair that my work will never be good enough to be published, because there's just too much to learn and it's all so contradictory and confusing.

But once in a while, I'll read back over a paragraph or section--or even a whole chapter--I've written, and I'm shocked by how good it is because I've subconsciously applied something I've learned in my studies, and I think, "Wow. Maybe I do have a chance of being published one day!" Then I read something I did that absolutely sucks and think, "Or not." And that's when I realize--the reward in my writing may very well have to be my own personal one, and even if I never get published, maybe I can at least leave some really, really good manuscripts that my nieces (and nephew, but I don't think he's much of a chick book reader) can read and say, "You know what? Aunt Linda was an amazing writer!"

Oh, well, live in hope, die in despair as an obviously cynical friend of mine used to say.

One thing I think (hope) I'll never be, though is as deluded as this little guy. And if I am, you hereby have permission to smack some sense into me.

So You Want to Write a Novel - YouTube

Back to (Blog) Life

Wow, I forgot I even had this blog (as you can tell by the five-year gap in posts). But since I need a blog to link to my in-development writer's site, this one will do just fine.

Lots has happened in the five years since I wrote my last post. I started a new job as a marketing writer, and am now also the managing editor of my division's client magazine, circulation 36,000 (love, love, LOVE that part of the job--I can set my inner control freak free). The jerk of a downstairs neighbor I referred to in my first post moved out a few months ago, so the world has (to its unending gratitude, I'm sure) been deprived of my rants about how the space he takes up in the universe would be better given to someone who actually has a soul; warnings about how, if Mr. Bud and I turn up dead, to check downstairs first; and my promises that, if said neighbor was sprawled on the side of the road injured and bleeding with vultures pecking his eyes out, I'd wave cheerily and drive on by. Ooh, there, see? You've just been caught up on it all in the Cliff Notes version. Less angst for you, residual catharticism (yes, I like to make up words) for me.

Most important (well, to me, anyway), I've started writing again. For a few years after my mom became ill, and especially after she passed away in 2006, other than my writing for work I just couldn't pick up a pen. Er, keyboard. 

But in mid-2010 my friend Shelley and I cooked up a scheme to write a fluffy chick lit-type book (she'd plot, I'd write). And we actually finished it! Sent it out to agents and everything! Only to find out that chick lit is supposedly dead! So it didn't get published! And rightfully so, looking back on it! But hey, I wrote, and--most importantly for the Queen and Almighty Supreme Empress of The Kingdom of Startem and Dropem--completed a freakin' book! And then wrote and finished a second one! And actually plotted about half of this one myself! And I'm starting to query on it as we speak! And now, I'm working on a third one! That's a total trash and rewrite of the first one! Which had some great characters, but all the agent feedback we got on it said the story was way too cliched! And it was!

So there will be updates coming on not only the progress of the second book's queries, but on the third book's development. And lots more, too. For instance, at the suggestion of my work posse, Pam, Cathy, and Angela (aka The Girls of Megacube--the 2013 calendar will be on sale soon, guys), I want to start a regular feature we've dubbed "Linda's Tiger Beat Crush of the Week," in which I will channel my inner 50+-year-old teenybopper and highlight my current celebrity crush (I have lots of them, not to mention an EXTREMELY patient and tolerant and wonderful husband, the aforementioned Mr. Bud, who will probably be the subject of future posts, too, heh, heh, heh, thank God he's not much of an online guy). My celebrity crushes in many cases are the inspiration for the characters in my writing, so when the books are finally published you can already have a picture of them in your mind (and trust me--they're all hot, because I have REALLY good taste. You're welcome).

Oh, and I may even include some non-mind-meltingly fluffy posts, for those of you who prefer some substance with your drivel.

So we have lots of fun planned, kids. Make sure you tune in regularly. This time, I promise it won't be five years till the next post. 

Letting Go, Moving On, Not Forgetting

Today I had a garage sale with my best friend Nancy at her house. My main goal (besides getting rid of a bunch of stuff I haven't used in an embarrassingly long period of time) was to sell our gargantuan George Foreman grill and the over-the-toilet useless shelf thingy, and make $129 so I can buy a more useful bathroom wall cabinet for my house staging.My feet hurt, I'm sunburned, my allergies have kicked up like a house afire and I have a headache. But George went for $15 to a woman whose house interior was pretty much gutted by fire a few months ago (a very nice lady, btw), I talked a guy into taking the bathroom thingy for $7.50 (Half off! Such a deal for a chrome-and-glass beauty), and I made $130. So I'm happy.

And I only brought a couple of things back to the house--the shower curtain and accessories that were in my small bathroom (I'm going to see if someone at work wants it), my round copper clock that will go in my new kitchen in my new house (wherever that may be), a necklace I decided not to sell and a Disney tin I took from Nancy in exchange for a basket. All the other stuff is now en route to Help's On the Way, the charity we chose, with nary a regret.

The only thing I had a very hard time letting go of wasn't even in the garage sale. It was two of my Mom's muu-muus. I've had them in a bag in my trunk ever since Carolyn and I cleaned out her closet last June. Of course, she had lots of them. Carolyn and I each took one at the time, and so did some of my brothers and sisters. I meant to donate the two remaining ones but just never did. Whenever I opened up the trunk of my car, winter or summer, I could get just a faint whiff of my mom's perfume, and I liked it.

But yesterday, in order to be able to put my card tables in the trunk of my car I had to take out what was laying on the trunk floor. The last thing I grabbed was the bag with the muu-muus, and I thought, well, since we're taking a load of stuff to donate anyway...

But I had to ask Nancy to talk me through it.

When I opened up the bag, the smell of Mom's perfume was so fresh that it was as if she was standing right next to me, and I started to cry. But as Nancy reminded me, at least with HOTW we know that everything we give to them goes directly to the people who need it, unlike thrift stores that sell to the general public. And she also reminded me that my Mom would have been all about helping women who are going through hard times. So I stuffed the two muu-muus into a box very quickly, sealed it up and let it go.

This morning, I read a People magazine article about the graduation ceremonies at Virginia Tech, and one line will help pre-empt any guilt I might feel for getting rid of the muu-muus (and of course you know I will have some eventually). The university president said in his address, "Please know that moving on is not the same as forgetting. We will not forget."

So I had a big day yesterday--I let go, hopefully helped a person or two, moved on, and of course, will never, ever forget.

Why Would Anyone Want to Read This?

So at last I've joined the ranks of the bloggers. After all this time wondering why people want to read the random musings of other people, why did I make the jump? Because it's late night on the 4th of July (actually, now it's the 5th) and I was bored, but I don't really feel like going to bed yet, so I thought I'd try this out.

So do I have any idea what in my life is worth writing about? Not the vaguest. I lead the most average existence you could possibly imagine, hence the "Mundane Musings" title of this blog. I guess I could write about my downstairs neighbor playing his stupid stereo for something like 12 hours today, but we don't want to go there right now (trust me, if you become a regular reader of these posts, you'll eventually get the entire story).

And do I have any idea what I'm supposed to be doing in this completely foreign role of "blogger?" Absolutely none--your world frightens and confuses me. What's a label? How do I make the font bigger? Will I cry if I get nasty comments? Perhaps "Linda's Clueless Cluckings" would be a better title...

Oh well, I guess I'll leave my first post here for now. I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with something more interesting. Tomorrow is my weigh-in day at Weight Watchers, so if I show a gain again, trust me, you'll have all the fascinating angst-filled musings you can handle!

Night, all.