18 December 2010

Guest Post from Author Kristie Cook

Living With Tristan

Thank you, Lisa, for having me – again! The release blog tour has been a blast and you've been amazing in letting me and my characters take over your blog for a few days. Today I talk about one of my favorite subjects: Tristan.

When the hero of my book first started forming in my mind, I knew he had a horrible past that he preferred to forget about but constantly tried to make up for, he was not quite human and he was created for a reason. After some research, I knew his name was Tristan and how he got that name in the story. I also knew he was far beyond just "good-looking" and not just because it makes for fun reading.

Tristan's creators armed him with just about every offense and defense they could give him, including his appearance and physique. They knew physical attractiveness would help their warrior get his way more easily because humans are naturally drawn to beauty. With the genes used in his creation, however, his appeal surpasses anything human – he has an otherworldly presence. This explains why Alexis dismisses mundane terms such as "handsome," and instead calls him "beautiful."

So while writing Promise, I had this image of an inhumanly beautiful creature often taking over my mind. Not a bad thing. But sometimes it was quite distracting. I found myself, when out in public, constantly looking around at the males, wondering if any of them could be Tristan. Whenever a motorcycle drove by, my head would snap around to get a good look (sadly, in Florida, most of the bikers are at least 50 lol). I'd walk the beach, but never saw anyone who came close – all the guys in their 20s were either too skinny or body-builder-ugly. Not even actors or models fit.

Then it finally hit me – he's otherworldly, inhumanly beautiful. I'll never find anyone who looks exactly like him, because that's the whole point. So I settled with a young Brad Pitt mixed with a few others I've seen to give me something to go on. Again, not a bad thing.

But it wasn't until Tristan's personality started coming through that I kind of fell in love. He's confident, but because of his past, he's not cocky. He knows who he once was and doesn't like that person at all. He believes he owes the world his life a thousand times over.

He's not brooding all the time either, though. He tries to live the life he wants to live, not the one he was created for. He wants to be good, generous, kind and, to the best of his ability, loving. And more than anything, he wants to make Alexis happy.

So, yeah, Tristan is kind of perfect…but, of course, he's not. He makes mistakes. He has flaws. But these make him more real – more real to me than being able to see him in an actual person. And, like Alexis and the rest of my characters, he feels very real to me. I "see" his stunning smile and knowing smirks. I "hear" him speak in my head or chuckle in my ear. I "feel" his arms around Alexis. I can "smell" and "taste" his tangy-sweetness.

My characters are so real to me, my husband thought I'd lost my mind when I was in the really focused stage of the first draft. I think he was even jealous of Tristan for a while…until he read the book. Then he realized what had me so…intense…while I was writing. Alexis's world, including Tristan, was very real to me and so were her emotions. I felt what she felt. I believe this is why her emotions pop off the page, as reviewers have commented. So for a while, I was living with Tristan…and loving every bit of it. Fortunately, he visits me often and when I'm having a bad day, I let myself pretend, just for a little while… Soon, as I write the third book, I'll be immersed in that world again. Not a bad thing.

Thanks so much for stopping by again Kristie, as always... you are more

than welcome here anytime!