Saturday, June 28, 2008

Hero-Worthy Inspiration with Natasha Moore

Please join me in welcoming the fantabulous author Natasha Moore to Killer Fiction as she talks about one of my favorite subjects – heroes. (*sigh, swoon*) Natasha writes erotic romance for Ellora’s Cave and deliciously spicy contemporary romance for Samhain. So, feel free to drool as she talks about her hot hero inspirations. (I know I will…)


I want to thank Gemma for inviting me to be a guest here at Killer Fiction today. For the last couple days I’ve been trying to find some way to tie together my two very different stories that were released last week, besides the fact that I wrote them. My sexy contemporary romance, The Passion-Minded Professor from Samhain, is a novel about a divorced diner waitress and a chemistry professor that takes place over a couple months. Sunrise is a short erotic romance included in Ellora’s Cave’s latest Cavemen anthology, Jewels of the Nile II, about a local artist and a concert musician that takes place over a couple hours.

Then I started thinking about my heroes – don’t we all? lol – and I realized that out of all the heroes I’ve written (and I just signed my eleventh contract, so I’ve written a few) these are the only two who I named after their inspiration. I don’t even have a person/actor/fictional character as inspiration for all my characters, but I did for these two very different heroes.

Chemistry professor Dr. Daniel Jennings is a typical absent-minded professor at the beginning of The Passion-Minded Professor. My inspiration for his character was Dr. Daniel Jackson, a role played by actor Michael Shanks in the Sci-Fi Channel’s series, Stargate SG-1. Intense, intelligent and passionate, he was the perfect jumping off point for my Daniel.

Sunrise started with the heroine, Caroline. I knew her right away. Well enough that I started writing the story in first person, present tense without even planning to. She’s waiting for her lover, not sure if he’s coming tonight, not sure if he’s ever coming back. Then suddenly, he’s there. And he speaks. And he sounds just like Alan Rickman. I had no idea until that first line of dialogue that my hero was British. So I had to name him Alan.

I love it when my characters surprise me. It’s one of the best things about writing. How about you? Have characters in a story you’ve read or written surprised you enough that you still remember it?

And if you’d like to check out the blurb, excerpt and/or buy your very copies of my new releases, you can check them out here:
The Passion-Minded Professor
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/the-passion-minded-professor
Sunrise in Jewels of the Nile II
http://www.ellorascave.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419916540

Natasha
Romance with more…sizzle
www.natashamoore.com

7 comments:

Gemma Halliday said...

Thanks for coming to play with us, Natasha!

I agree, there is something so appealing about Alan, isn't there? ;) Will have to go pic up your new books. Two releases in one week? You go, girl!

~Gemma

Christie Craig said...

Natasha,

I love it when my characters surprise me, too. They are in so many ways just like our children. We give them life, but before we know it, they are their own person, talking back to us, telling us they will and will not do.

Thanks for guest blogging.

Crime Scene Christie

Natasha Moore said...

Gemma! Thanks for the invite. What fun to hang out with your gang today :)

Christie, I'm glad I'm not the only whose characters talk back to them!

Natasha

Nell Dixon said...

My characters frequently surprise me but isn't it just great when a plot takes an unexpected twist because of your characters actions?

Natasha Moore said...

Nell, it's the best. And it always seems to be better than what I'd come up with originally. :) Thanks for stopping by.

Helen Scott Taylor said...

Hi Natasha, meeting my heroes is one of my fav parts of writing. They constantly surprise me as I make everything up as I go along.

Natasha Moore said...

Hi Helen! Gotta love those heroes!