A CHARACTER IS BORN

People often ask me where I get my ideas for characters, or more often, where I got the idea for a particular character. My first thought is simply: he's the person he had to be. But the truth is, forming a character is a profound and complex process, part coming from the writer's deep instinct about human nature, and part hard, cold, rational planning.

People also often ask whether it's the plot or the character that come first for me, and this is one question I can't answer. Robert McKee says in his book STORY, that character and story are inseparable, and this is something I 've always believed. For me, the first glimmer might be about a situation, a dilemma, a "what if?", or it might be a character who in some way seems unique or interesting. But immediately when I see one, I see the other.

For example in LADY WICKED (unpublished), I asked myself what happens to a Regency lady is cast off by her husband as an adulteress, but she didn't do anything wrong? And what happens if she discovers her husband's true motive was to trick his worst enemy into taking her in so her husband could sue in court and ruin the man? It took only a flicker in time before Davina, angry and bitter after years of abuse, stepped onto the stage. I also saw her immense inner strength that willed her to do whatever it took, even being accused of adultery, to break free of her abusive marriage and be left at last alone to run her own life. I knew, for her, another man in her life would be like drinking poison. Then who should step up to meddle in her life but Lord Savoury, an aimless and callous adventurer down on his luck, but who couldn't stop being her knight in tarnished armor even when she didn't want to be rescued. However the story might turn from there, these two lovers were firmly cast, and I knew the story could only go one way, the way these two must go.

People are all alike in certain ways, and they are all different in other ways. Characters must be that way too. A character must begin with his universal bond with the rest of humanity, whether it be a common experience, or a dilemma or emotion, such as an adolescent who struggles to find his identity as he separates into adulthood, yet has a deep-seated yearning to belong. We all either went through that struggle or know people who did, and a character in a book who feels this pain and struggles to resolve the conflict resonates deeply with us as readers.

But that alone is not enough, for every human being also has his uniqueness, and a character who is completely like everyone else lacks depth. Melisande, in my book FIRE DANCE, for example, was deliberately making the ultimate sacrifice for the people she loved. Her common ground lay in her love and loyalty for her people, and was easy to spot, but I didn't know what made her different. Then in the second chapter, out of the clear blue, this girl started hearing voices. I thought, I can't do this. Everyone will think she's crazy, and she's not. Then I realized this part of her could not be ignored. She completely believed she was demon-possessed, but I saw the voices as expressing her fears of death and Hell when the force of her personality refused to let her act on her fears. But that wasn't all. It took two more chapters before I realized the poor girl had no sense of humor. It wasn't a conscious choice for her. Nothing in her grim life had taught her how to enjoy humor, and her very literal mind couldn't comprehend it. To her, jokes seemed like lies, and she didn't see how an untruth could be funny. She was forever taking a joke literally, but other people knew it, understood, and found it endearing. At that moment, the true Melisande was born.

A character must have Strengths, but the other side of strength is weakness, and he must also have Flaws. Often the two are intertwined so closely that they really are the same trait. In my many years of social work, I often worked with children I called Kids of Steel, for against overwhelming odds, they found ways not just to cope and survive, but to grow beyond their environments into successful adults. But this same steel was acquired at a price. They might passionately support underdog causes, or deeply love others, yet they often had difficulty relating, or had a giant chip sitting on their shoulder. They'd had to close down the most intimate, vulnerable side of themselves in order to survive the pain of their childhoods, and as adults they didn't know how to re-build it.

In my current work GILDING LILLY, my hero is such a man, coming from an aristocratic family whose scandalous behavior is the scourge of society. Somehow in his childhood, he found the courage to be different, pledging to be honorable above all else. To survive, he had to distance himself from his disgraceful family, and family is the last thing he wants in his life. So what has to happen to him? His sister dies, begging him to take over and raise her son, the world's most obnoxious kid. Honor dictates he must, but reality says he will fail at a task he almost despises, and if he fails, he will dishonor himself. His strength has become his weakness, and he has to do a lot more than just find a wife to help him. It was when Gabe took a deep breath and stepped into his honor-bound child-raising/monster-taming role that he was born as a character.

People do what they are; they are what they do. The two cannot be separated. A person might very well desire to become honest and trustworthy, but if he takes the easy way out in his decisions, and that easy way is to be dishonest just this once, then he becomes more and more dishonest as time goes on. His actions help solidify his original behavior.

If just any character can be thrown into your plot and perform its deeds, then you need to go back and re-think both the plot and the character. But if you find a hero whose dilemma resonates in everyone's souls, as did William Wallace in BRAVEHEART, if you give him the uniqueness of Jack Sparrow in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, and find the strengths and weaknesses that are inherent in both of those characters, then you will have found a hero who can have only one story, and that story cannot belong to anyone but him.

And that is the time when a character is born.

Move Over Kindle! eSlick Has Arrived!

The revolution in ebook readers is finally beginning to come within our reach. For over ten years, readers and writers of ebooks have dreamed of an inexpensive, easy to use, pleasurable reader. We've been sure it's possible, yet sometimes it seems the manufacturers were not just ignoring what we wanted but outright flaunting what we didn't want. Under a hundred dollars, we said. Okay, we'd be reasonable- under two hundred dollars. Instead, we got four hundred and above. We could see possibilities in the new offerings, but still, what we said we wanted just wasn't there.

Still, I think we should be grateful that the gadget guys of the world kept trying to turn something we saw as rather ordinary into something else. While we waited for the latest installment of the can-opener-cell phone, there were others seeking a great low-energy using screen, tinier but more powerful memory, and the things that mattered to us.

Some of the reasons I haven't bought an ebook reader up to now:
1. Too expensive.
2. Icky dull green screen.
3. Clumsy to use.
4. Proprietary software that would force me to buy my books only from the e-reader manufacturer.
5. Bells and whistles I don't want.
6. Better screen, but not well lit.
7. Formatting loss in larger fonts.

So why did I change my mind and buy one now? Especially why did I stick my neck out and buy a newly developed one with no track record? Is Foxit's eSlick worth the risk I took?

A little history here: Like a lot of people, the lack of a decent, inexpensive ereader held me back on buying ebooks, and probably on reading them, too. The early readers were in the "okay" range, I guess, but I hated the dull gray-green screen. Reading on my laptop was far better, but it wasn't a very portable arrangement. When Kindle and Sony brought out their readers, they made a giant leap forward with the use of the eInk screen. But two things stood in my way, and they tied together. How could any company justify such a high price but give me no other choice except to buy books only from them- and usually over-priced as well? Kindle had the advantage in book selection and ease of download, but Amazon is the one company in the world I don't want to have dominion over all my reading material.

Things started looking up recently when Sonys began to appear at discount prices. That usually means a new model is about to debut, and sure enough, they resolved some of their drawbacks like buttons along the side that were frustratingly easy to trigger, and a screen that needed more light. But instead of becoming cheaper, the price jumped up another hundred dollars. Holy cow! All I wanted was a book reader! I didn't need a built-in microwave!

There were others around and some looked pretty good, like the JetBook, which has built-in translators. Astak reader kept promising to come out, but as it delayed and delayed, the projected price went up. $299 to $349 seems to be what manufacturers think they ought to get, while those of us down here on earth dream of finding a nice reader with decently new and workable hardware and software under $200. I've only seen that once, very recently when JetBook's original model surfaced at Fry's Electronics for $179.99. At such a giveaway price for a model that was originally $299, you could be pretty sure the next model was lurking in the wings. Sure enough, it's here, at MSRP of $349! Bargain today available for that magic number, $299. And those cheapie, now-obsolete models? Almost all gone now.

I signed up to buy eSlick last December, and my biggest concern then was whether it would follow Astak's track and just never get off the ground. Maybe I'd lose my deposit. But the initial "investment" price was $229.99, $70 under that bottom line price manufacturers seem to aim for. Sorry, you can't get it for that now, but the current intro price of $259 keeps it in the ballpark.

What else? It's slim and lightweight-lighter than any of the others. eSlick is actually a tad taller than Sony, making reading on it in landscape mode just a wee bit better. Fonts are enlargeable, and it can be read in both portrait and landscape mode, meaning I could enlarge the print and read something in bed that didn't strain my eyes. It has an MP-3 player, which means nothing to me, but might impress some people. It doesn't have those annoying side buttons like Sony. No mini-keyboard like Kindle. No proprietary software like Kindle (at least t looks like Sony may give up on this dumb idea). No language translator. It doesn't talk to you. No cell phone. No calculator. No built-in GPS. No kitchen sink. It reads ebooks. Its basic format is PDF, although it will also read TXT. And images such as JPG book covers, GIF etc. With the PDF converter, I can even read my own manuscripts on it.

Although it has its drawbacks, eSlick lives up to its major promises, and I'm willing to guess there will be future versions with most of the bugs worked out. The screen is the same type and quality as any other eInk model, since they're all made by the same company. The case and navigation button lack Sony's sleek sophistication, being plastic and looking like it, but I remind myself I want to read books, not look cool, and the extra hundred dollars is best not spent on sleek surfaces. Still, for plastic, it looks pretty slick. It ought to have a cover. Doesn't need one, really- still, it ought to have one.

The navigation button interfaces with the software to accomplish eSlick's basic features. "Go To" is surprisingly primitive, yet very operable, and it eliminates those expensive annoying number buttons that irritated Sony buyers. Clicks get you where you want to go.

See the photo with those tiny little metal buttons on the side? At first I didn't like them, until I realized they're not easy to press, yet not hard. They're actually out of the way of accidental touch, and just hard enough to press that you aren't likely to be sending yourself astray all the time. But I can't read those indented symbols, can you? The symbols need to be indented on the front of the case beside the buttons where they're easily visible.

ESlick is also a little clumsy in getting to certain modes (like the landscape view I like) without losing standard formatting, but it can be done. Takes a few more clicks. But think about it: are we so afraid of losing a few seconds that we can't deal with a few extra clicks? Once there, it's set. You don't have to keep re-setting every time you go back to that book.

I decided to try putting one of my manuscripts on it to see how it read, and was surprised at how easy it was to do. In TXT format, it loses all formatting, which I expected. But converting to PDF is as easy as printing, but without the paper. Can your read it? Click on the photo to enlarge it, and see what you think.

It's also easy to download books from the internet and just move them to the eSlick, or if you want, to the SD chip that's included in your order. Kindle touts its wireless delivery straight to the reader, and that's nice. But it probably doesn't even take half a minute longer to move the download to the reader. Is that really worth Kindle's high price? We're pretty used to saving our work to a second file, and that's all we're doing with the eSlick.

The manuscript here is from my WIP, Sidhe. I learned that if I enlarge my font from 12 pt to 15 pt, I can keep standard formatting without having to use the "Reflow" which re-position words when using larger fonts. Reflow is a nice feature, and I will use it when having to deal with books that have an initial font that's too small for my comfort. But I have to give up format to do it. That's going to be true for any ereader, I think. Something, at least, you can't do with any paper book.

By the way, don't feel you have to purchase Foxit's PDF Creator software. And you don't have to agree to accept one of their "Advertisers'" promotions to get their license free for a year. Why would you do that? Their software does seem to be perfectly good, but so far I see no advantage over other PDF software that can be obtained free. And besides, you can go on using the Foxit PDF Creator in "Evaluation Mode". Who cares if they mark it that way?

I'm not pleased with the battery, which for some reason took no charge last night, and didn't have enough juice even to reach the welcome screen this morning. But it might actually be a software glitch like the kind Windows so frequently has- yet the OS of this device is supposed to be Linux. I ran the reader down completely before re-charging, which might have triggered something that kept it from charging. I re-set and plugged it in again, and after about twenty minutes the opening screen lit up and it worked fine. It could all be just fine now, but I'll be watching it.

All of these readers need a light in low light situations because they're not backlit like a laptop screen is (the new Sony fixed that). But it doesn't justify an extra hundred dollars. Looking around the house, I discovered a Mighty Bright light. You can see it in the photos- it's purple, and clipped onto the reader. To give it a good, non-jiggly fit, I padded the clip. Any foam tape would hold something to pad it. Put the padding only on the lower side of the clip and it will fit better. I have another much tinier light by Book Owl, and it will probably be nice for traveling, but the Mighty Bright has two bulbs and illuminates the whole screen better.

And did I really need to buy a cover? No. Why did I? Well, I thought it was cool. What I bought doesn't belong with my reader, but it works well. It's a day planner cover from At-a-Glance, for $9.50. You can see I'm getting gadgety here: Large rubber bands hold the reader in place on the back cardboard of a small tablet- I'll replace all of that with something classier- black elastic or strap tape with Velcro.

So will the eSlick hold up well? Don't know. It is plastic, but it's a pretty tough plastic. There re some cheap things about it. But for the most part it seems durable enough for what it needs to do. What about other questions like warranty, software updates and the like? Well, they're a pretty small company. On the other hand, that could mean they have their feet on the ground like the rest of us, and maybe that's good.

Still not satisfied? Are there more changes coming for ebooks? Well, it looks like the manufacturers are sensing the needs of businessmen. Document. Paper, briefcases. That's good for the rest of us, at least in terms of coming innovations.

There's a letter-size e-reader in the offing from Plastic Logic, in the UK. http://www.plasticlogic.com/product.html

iRex, in the Netherlands, is making advances in iLiad. But they're really expensive, in the $700-800 range. You can write information into it. Qualcomm and eInk are both on the track of color screens. One manufacturer in Europe even has a flexible screen that rolls up into a fairly small roll. An entire newspaper can download to it. And the good news is, the more they find things that appeal to the working guys, the more likely we insignificant readers will reap the benefits in terms of better design and cheaper prices. In the meantime, all we need is the simple little Foxit eSlick.

TAMMIE KING from NIGHT OWL ROMANCE

Look who is visiting us today! Tammie King from Night Owl Romance has stopped by to give us her thoughts on heroes from a reviewer's perspective. Join us in a discussion about heroes and how they influence your choices in what you read. And don't forget to go to Night Owl to find loads more stuff- reviews, contests, everything about romance!


TAMMIE SAYS:

Hi Delle and readers :o) - Waving,

You have a wonderful place and a very interesting blog theme.

Thanks for inviting me here to discuss heroes from a reviewer’s perspective.

To be able to do that please join me as I discuss how I became a reviewer and what being a reviewer means.

I’m Tammie King, owner of Night Owl Romance and a romance reader since the 9^th grade. Now that I’m in my thirties I can say I’ve read quite a few romances and in probably almost every genre. I’ve also read books as both a reader and a reviewer. I would say for my first 10 to 12 or so years I was a voracious reader. I could read a book so quick and be onto another…back when time just seemed to be for the taking. Now that I’m running a review site, volunteering as a webmistress for my local RWA, working as a web designer plus taking care of a hubby. My reading time has diminished. :o) – So, from me to you – Treasure every book and every moment you have to read. Times changes and before you know it your time just becomes small chunks.

Around 5 years ago I started Night Owl Romance from my house. It’s still stationed in my house, but now we have expanded to having well over 30 reviewers. So, for me becoming a reviewer was just part of expanding my site. At first the site was just my way of telling other readers about my love of books and what were my overall favs. So, you can say I’m a self-made reviewer.

Every reviewer’s perspectives are different and it’s my belief that every reviewer is just a reader who wants to spread the word about books. Most of us just have a passion for books. Some reviewers specialize just in one genre or sub-genre and others who will read what’s put in front of them. In my case I would say I’m pretty specialized. I love romance, but normally go through genre cycles. I’ll read lots of historicals then be onto paranormals and then onto fantasies. The system is always revolving. So, I often will buy a book to read at a later point.

I like my heroes to be strong…don’t put a wimpy one in front of me. So, when I read as a reviewer my view on heroes will show up in my work. If it’s a wimpy hero you will probably hear about it…and not in a positive way. On another note the hero needs to also have respect and be helpful. If I read about a hero who doesn’t listen to the heroine that can be annoying and I’ll have no respect for him unless the author is using this as a trait to redeem him. Most readers want to have a hero who respects the heroine and takes the time to spend with her. One of my favorite heroes is Alec from Julie Garwood’s The Bride. He is a very strong highland laird, but he does care about his wife even though they are married in an arranged marriage. Julie Garwood also brings humor into her characters and that makes them very human. I think a hero should be strong, but know how to smile and laugh during the right points. Those are qualities I find make me like a hero.

A review is just a person’s thoughts on a book. With over 35 reviewers at Night Owl Romance it’s quite common to find one reviewer who just loved a book and another who did not. Luckily there are enough books and authors out there for each reader and reviewer to find out what she is really into and what style she likes. Some readers like their heroes to be all flowery, I do not. When reading reviews it’s a good idea to get to know what books a reviewer likes and doesn’t like. It’s quite possible to find a reviewer you don’t agree with at all. Finding a reviewer or reviewers to follow is just like creating any relationship in life. You have to find the right match. If you do that you will get the right recommendations for what you like. Your heroes will be the types that you are looking for and you will feel each dollar you spend was worth the time.

My first romance novel was Gypsy King by Kat Martin. It’s been so long since I read that book that I can’t remember the hero, heroine or the plot. I can tell you with that one book I became addicted to the romance novel. The ladies at my local bookshop became my friends. They recommended books to me and I started pre-ordering books. I wasn’t shy about reading them out in the public. I read them in every class at my local high school. I didn’t care what anyone thought. I would say I’m my shy of doing that now that I was then. I was truly addicted and didn’t care who knew. I had found something to love and from there I even became a romance reader recruiter. Soon I had my best friend reading. May she be smiling down on us all from heaven (sad and wistful smile). Then I converted my sister…she might have been a bit young but she too became a voracious reader and to this day we exchange books and author information. If you attend the Rose City Romance Writers Readers Luncheon you probably know her as the girl who goes home with many baskets. Sounds a bit like an Indian name LOL.

Overall there’re thousands of heroes out there. You have to find the right ones for you. What do you like in a man? What turns you off? These two questions will determine if you love or loathe a hero. Finding your perfect hero is like joining the quest to find the perfect husband. You are lucky if you find him.

You can find me often on the Night Owl Romance website - http://www.nightowlromanc.com

We recommend books, do contests and bring readers and authors together.

Tammie King
Night Owl Romance
Owner
http://www.nightowlromance.com

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VILLAINS! DELICIOUS VILLAINS!

Villains are so under-rated! Oh, sure, we need the hero and he has to be the central male focus of any romance. We adore our heroes. But think about it- just how heroic is the hero without the villain?

Way back in the Dark Ages in Senior English class, Miss Neal taught us that every novel must have one of a very few basic plots. Man versus Man, Man vs. God, Man vs. Society, Man vs. the Elements, Man vs. Himself. We were sure there had to be some stories that didn't fit her neat, simplistic divisions. We jumped immediately on Man vs. Woman but she told us that was included in the Man vs. Man type. She'd taught this class a few times before (like about 25 years), so she might have herd that one before. She did agree, God vs. the Elements might be a possibility, but since God and Nature were in accord, there was no conflict, and therefore no story.

Essentially, in Miss Neal's mind, anyone/thing on the opposite side from the protagonist was the antagonist, the villain, and the villain needed to be a strong match for the protagonist. "Never write a stupid villain," she told us, "because your hero doesn't have to show his strength, his worth, to win."

Conflict is the nature of fiction, and fabulous villains make for great conflict. In some stories, the villain's story overwhelms the hero's story.

In 3:10 to Yuma, which starred Russell Crowe as the villain and incidentally Christian Bale as the hero, the hero does win, by losing- his life. His son wins by standing up to the villain. And the villain wins, yet loses, because he escapes, having used the hero and his son to the fullest of his supremely manipulative ability, yet he can't change. He is broken beyond repair, and thus can never have what he truly wanted in life. And Wade's story is so compelling, it's hard to even remember the hero.

Phantom of the Opera, starring Gerard Butler in a musical re-make of a Nineteenth Century novel by Gaston Leroux, is another example of a villain taking over the story. Any similar character in a modern news story would be considered pathetic, and evil, living for vengeance. Sympathy? Little or none. But when you see him through the heroine's eyes, he really jerks your heartstrings. The hero, played by Patrick Wilson, with a =character deliberately written to be weak- reactive instead of proactive, doesn't stand a chance against the phantom.

In both of these examples, the villains showed sympathetic glimpses into their true character through their actions, so bit by bit the viewer began to understand how they became what they did. We saw their deep wounds, and what they had to do, become, to survive. And despite their villainy, we began to care and feel that tiny spark of hope grow, that they might overcome their evil. That's what kept us glued to our seats, not the heroes, no matter how heroic they were.

You can't get away with this very often in a romance. Because the romance has to be central to the story, the hero must be the strongest male. Often romance writers solve their problem by creating villains with no redeeming qualities. Or they make them cardboard, weak, almost not there. Mary Jo Putney got away with it, and in a sequel, The Rake and the Reformer, later enlarged to become The Rake, produced the lovable, awful rake, Reggie, the alcoholic who turned his life around to make one of the best heroes ever written. But in reality, he only had a few sympathetic moment at the end of the story, when he became gracious and accepted defeat, "letting" the hero win the heroine. Mary Jo said it was that unusual twist that brought to her the glimpse of Reggie as an eventual hero.

Now, sorry, I'm having trouble thinking of any other examples. But Mary Jo helped me out with this comment:

"Don't we all love our villains if they're redeemable? Another great example of the redeemable rake-Patricia Veryan. The Dedicated Villain is the sixth of her Georgian/Jacobite series, and it took that many books to redeem the villain/hero. Each book, he showed something a little bit better in his character. (At the beginning, the most that could be said is that Roly liked his horse. )"

That gets me to thinking- I do believe I have been influenced by some fine villain-writers. I didn't succeed as well as I'd hoped in Lady Valiant. The minute the hero's father, the duke, became really visible through his motivation, he stepped from flat, everyday nasty guy to a deeply wounded man with a mission he was desperate to fulfill. He became so strong, he completely took over the book. My hero and heroine became mere pawns in his hands. It took me a full year to tame the guy down and get him to let go of my story. And he's still too strong, for some people. But I'm not sorry I wrote him the way I did, and I learned a lot from him. Years later, he still niggles around in my brain, demanding to know when I'm going to give him center stage.

I put what he taught me in Sins of the Heart. Davy Polruhan is the hero's adversary. He's very charismatic, and a good man, not evil, but his good intentions cause harm. He's one of those people on whom God's sun seems always to have shone. He's lived a life in which everything has been all but perfect. And that's what's wrong with him. He's so used to having things go his way, and he's never had to deal with adversity, so he lacks the skills. He just takes it for granted that someday the heroine will marry him. She doesn't. She falls in love with the very kind of guy Davy dislikes most, a d..... nob. And suddenly there's blackness in his heart he never knew he could have.

So Davy got to be himself in that story, but there's still so much left for him that he needs his own. That will be Strangers in the Night. When it's finally done. And he will be his own villain. Because he's so good at it.

IN SEARCH OF A HERO

Shirley Karr, author of several Avon historicals including CONFESSIONS OF A VISCOUNT, share a lot of common interests with me. We both love Regencies and love to write them. We have this thing for kids, little and big. And we share a hero, one who is not just a Hollywood babe magnet, but a wonderful actor and in his personal life, a man to be admired.


SHIRLEY SAYS:

We've all heard of heroes who are larger than life, whether in TV, movies, or books. How about a living hero who seems to have walked off the pages of your favorite romance novel? Gather 'round and I shall tell you his tale. (An abbreviated version, to be sure, since this is a blog not a biography.)

Once upon a time, there was a boy in Kentucky. The youngest of four, he was close to his Cherokee grandfather. Soon after PawPaw's death, when the boy was seven, Dad's job required relocating to another state. The family moved frequently, down the street, across town, or even to motels. He always felt like an outsider. His parents' marriage crumbled and they divorced. He escaped the chaos at home by teaching himself to play guitar and joined a rock band. At 16 he dropped out of school. The band played better gigs and opened for touring rock bands. At 20, he married the drummer's sister, a lass five years his senior.

Let's go to LA and get a record contract, the band decided, and off they went, to the other side of the continent, away from family. But a lot of other bands had the same idea. Competition was stiff. Gigs were few and paid poorly. Our guy took a telemarketing job he hated, selling pens. He'd amuse himself on sales calls by adopting strange accents.

His marriage collapsed under the stress, though they stayed friends. His ex-wife got a job as a makeup artist in Hollywood and introduced him to some of her new friends, including an actor named Nic. The trio often hung out. One night over beers, Nic told our guy he should try acting – he had the look producers want. Our guy had never acted, other than the funny voices on the phone, but by now the band had broken up and he still hated selling pens. Nic arranged a meeting with his agent.

The agent sent him on an audition. The director wasn't going to hire someone without experience, but it was a movie for teens and his teen daughter said he was "dreamy." He was hired. Things were looking up in his personal life too, with a new girlfriend.

He landed a few other movie roles and TV guest appearances but nothing major happened until a new TV series wanted him. Filming was in Canada, thousands of miles from his girlfriend and family. He turned down the role but eventually they persuaded him to join the cast.

The show was a smash hit. Teen girls screamed for him and overflowed shopping malls when the cast made publicity appearances. Suddenly this boy from Kentucky couldn't walk into a restaurant without people staring or asking for his autograph. Paparazzi followed his every move, documented his personal life. He lived in hotels. He felt different, like an outsider. A freak.

The show's marketing department capitalized on his popularity. Posters, billboards, lunchboxes, all adorned with his face. He hated it. He wanted out, but the successful show wouldn't cancel his contract and his own moral code wouldn't let him break it.


Frustrated, he self-medicated with drugs and alcohol and lived on caffeine and nicotine. One night he was arrested after taking out his frustration on his hotel room. As he was escorted out in handcuffs, paparazzi documenting every grimace, he realized he'd become a Hollywood cliché.

He had an epiphany.

He still hated the marketing machine and felt creatively stifled by the show. But he was done with self-medicating. He was not going to be a Hollywood bad boy. During summer hiatus he made a movie that mocked his heartthrob image. The girls who'd flocked to shopping malls stayed home from the theaters in droves.

He caught a break when the show's producers let him out of the last year of his contract. His conscience clear, he sought creatively challenging roles. An up and coming director, whose work our guy admired, was putting together a new movie whose main character was odd, an outsider. A freak. Our guy wanted this role badly enough to wear black leather from neck to toe while filming in the Florida summer without complaining, even after he passed out from heat exhaustion.

The movie was only moderately successful but it enabled him to get other roles. He chose them based on criteria that did not include box office potential. "I made a decision to do only movies I wanted to do and to play only characters I wanted to play. I thought it was important to have integrity," he said. Some movies did so-so, some tanked. He earned a reputation as a guy who made odd movies for directors with unpronounceable names. Some critics called him box office poison.

He wasn't earning huge bucks per picture but he enjoyed his work. He strove to improve his craft, to become the character. His famous face that once adorned lunchboxes and posters now was often covered in heavy makeup and obscured by wigs. One director described him as "a character actor in a leading man's body."

His personal life was still tabloid fodder. He entered long-term relationships, had four well-documented engagements. But his girlfriends were actresses and models, stalked by the paparazzi as much as he was, and each relationship ended shy of the altar.

While filming in Europe, he met someone different. A popular singer, Vanessa had shot to stardom in France as a teen. She knew what it was like to live in a fishbowl. They played music together. They soon became a devoted couple.

He teamed up again with the director who'd put him in leather, and their third project together broke the $100 million mark. Box office success at last was nice but came a distant second to the joy of becoming a father. Vanessa gave birth to their daughter six months before the movie's premiere. A son followed two years later. "You can't imagine the degree of joy and love that's available until you have a kid," he said. "It brings you into the person that you hoped you could be."

He had his pick of movie roles and was now considered an asset, not a liability, though still "quirky." When his daughter was a couple years old, he met with the head of a studio to express interest in voicing a cartoon character, to make a movie his daughter could watch. The studio had other ideas. "We're going to do a pirate movie." "With swords?" "Yes." "I'm in," our hero said.

The studio envisioned a swashbuckler like Douglas Fairbanks but our guy thought pirates were the rock stars of their day and looked more like Keith Richards. The studio suits got nervous. What's with the eyeliner, the beads, the slurred speech? Is he drunk? Is he gay? The director convinced the suits to let our guy play the role his way. The movie shattered box office records around the world. So did its two sequels.

Success, by any standard.

With Vanessa and their two kids, making the movies he wants to make, Johnny Depp is living happily-ever-after. He spent years looking for his one true love. He's a devoted father and partner. He overcame many obstacles, including his own self-destructive tendencies. Our guy won the girl *and* the job of his dreams and carved out success on his own terms. Isn't that what romance novel heroes do?

Why is this one of my all-time favorite pictures of JD? He's walking through an airport, his family just off-camera, on his way to resume filming the third Pirates movie. Take a closer look: He's carrying his toddler son's jacket and toy, and look, there in his pocket, is a back-up toy. All together now: Awww.

Whether playing a libertine, a corrupt CIA agent, a chocolatier or a louche pirate, he continues to be different in every role. That was Depp? Yup. He inspires me to not give in, to write the kinds of books I want to write. Success will come, or not, but if I have integrity it will be on my terms.

Delle asked why I cast Johnny as the hero in my second novel, and again in my current manuscript. Come to think of it, even the current hero's uncle bears a resemblance to JD. But to borrow from Paul Harvey, now that you know the rest of his story, is it any wonder?

Here's the Scoop:

Louisa Cornell is the winner of Colleen Gleason's free book. Louisa, you may pick any one of Colleen's Gardella Vampire series. Email Delle.

MJ Frederick's HOT SHOT has won the EPPIES! This is a very prestigious contest for published ebooks, and the book really deserves it! MJ was our guest a few weeks ago, talking about what makes hot shots so hot. HOT SHOT is available on Amazon:

And my book video for APHRODITE'S BREW won Book Trailer of the Month here: http://daniellethorne.jimdo.com/book_trailers.php

Other news:
Remember the question we all asked Colleen? Would her "other hero" get his own story? Well, I found out. The answer is in the book. Sort of... No spoiler here- I won't tell because... The book is a must-read!

update on the eyes

Wow, I always forget how long it takes for my eyes to recover from dilating. Whatever it is they do, it takes a lot longer than usual. This time after I got home from the retina specialist, I just gave up and took an all day nap because I couldn't do much of anything.

Anyway, the statement by the retina guy was, "Either it will detach or it won't." So far, so good. And with my eyes, well, at least I know to be really vigilant. And with detaching retinas, usually being proactive is the best way to save one's sight. I'm all for saving my sight. And believe me, with my bizarre eyes, that has been a chore!

So my advice to everyone is, if your eyes start doing weird things, like flashing lights that you still see even with your eyes closed, or strings of spots that look like teeny black beads on a string, but moving around, or if the tops of letters shear off, or straight lines stop being straight-- go check it out! For most of these things, the sooner you act, the more of your sight you can save.

Better yet, have great eyes to begin with.