I can’t remember what author it was that I first saw share about creating inspiration boards on Pinterest for their books, complete with models/actors to serve as the official face of each character. Whoever it was, they inspired me to start doing the same thing. At the time, I was in the beginning stages of planning out The Peasant Queen and still doing some editing work on my first book, The Nobleman’s Ward (it would take a LOT of rewriting/editing, but maybe in time it will see the light of day too), so I went to Pinterest and started “casting” my stories. Now, an official cast of characters and other inspirational images are a must have for any of my story ideas. I have a growing board for my current project, plus several other boards for stories I haven’t even written yet.
I must say I’m pretty partial to the cast of The Peasant Queen in particular. Maybe it’s just because I’ve spent so much time with them or maybe it’s because I was able to find so many perfect images and gifs of my two main characters that allowed me to have a clear understanding of how they look, move, talk, cry, etc.!
Arabella
Arabella was the first character I cast. I can’t remember how I first found pictures of the gorgeous Adelaide Kane from the tv show Reign, but the moment I saw her, I knew that was Arabella. Though Reign is about Mary Queen of Scots and therefore set in the Tudor era, many of Adelaide’s costumes had enough of a medieval flare to give me a good picture of how she’d look in my setting (though even many of the “Tudor” costumes from the show are also notoriously inaccurate, however beautiful).
I felt Adelaide perfectly captured the look and feel of my character. Arabella goes on quite the roller coaster ride throughout the book, therefore she experiences many different emotions. I love the fact that I found so many gifs of Adelaide’s acting on Reign because I can clearly see in my head all of Arabella’s expressions. If only it was that easy to find pictures and gifs of all of my heroines!
Adelaide’s face is so imprinted in my brain as Arabella, so I was worried about finding a model for my book cover that could meet my expectations! While the model Roseanna White found for my cover doesn’t look just like Adelaide, her posture and facial expression (reminiscent of the first picture of Adelaide below) perfectly matches my vision. I feel the “public” image of Arabella still represents my character well–and I’m SOOOO happy about that!!
PS: To check out all of those amazing gifs of Arabella–and Rowan too–you can visit my “The Peasant Queen” board on Pinterest!
Rowan
Ah… my dear Rowan. Now I can’t picture anyone else as Rowan because Henry Cavill’s face is so firmly entrenched in my mind, but there was a time when I couldn’t decide between him and Josh Dallas, who played Prince Charming on Once Upon a Time. Ultimately, I went with Henry because I thought he and Adelaide looked better together–and I’m so glad I did!
Rowan can be really frustrating sometimes, but behind his rough, hardened exterior is a heart in desperate need of love and peace. He’s still my favorite character I’ve written so far. I hope you fall in love with him like I have! And just look at him!! How can you not love Henry Cavill (AKA Superman)?
The Royal Advisors–Lord Cassius & Lord Favian
Lord Cassius is one of two advisors that Rowan turns to for everything. He and the other advisor, Lord Favian, both served Rowan’s father, the deceased King Roland of Acuniel. I thought the image below fit Cassius’s character well, except Cassius should be an older version of this guy.
I tried to find a picture of Lord Favian, but I never could find something that fit the image in my head. I tried again as I was writing this post and still no luck! Which is a shame, because Favian plays a big role in the story!
The Best Friends–Gloriana & Frederick
Before coming to the palace, Arabella had two best friends: Gloriana & Frederick. The three friends have been inseparable since childhood, and Frederick even loved Arabella and wanted to marry her. However, Arabella never could feel the same way… Poor Fred!
Uncle Matthew
Matthew of Caelrith has raised Arabella since her parents’ death and works as a scribe in the palace. For the kind and loving Uncle Matthew I chose John Rhys Davies, who actually played Mordecai on the Esther movie One Night with the King. How fitting, right?
I can’t wait for you to “meet” all of these characters and more in The Peasant Queen! As I said earlier, if you want to see many more pictures and even some quotes that helped inspire the writing of this book, be sure to check out my Pinterest board that I’ve made available for public viewing for the first time. Several of the pictures directly inspired scenes or character actions in the story as I was writing. I even paid homage to some of Adelaide Kane’s gowns in Arabella’s own wardrobe (though, of course, the two sets of costumes are from different eras, so they couldn’t be exactly alike). If you read the book and then look back at the Pinterest board, you just might notice some of these more subtle references, along with a couple BIG scenes!
Before you go, don’t forget that The Peasant Queen is available for preorder in Kindle format on Amazon for a special presale price of $5.99!
**I do not own the rights to any of these images. All images come from Pinterest.com**
