I've got my heroine--now for the hero!

I wrote 1600 words of this second draft of my book and then, as mentioned, stopped to find my heroine. Now that I've got her, my hero has morphed. The romantic interest has to compliment my protagonist. When picking, for example, a male love interest I don't dream up Mr Dreamy McDreamy; I pick someone who'll make an interesting couple.

Georgette Heyer did wonderful pairings. In Friday's Child she paired Hero, who was a total pushover, with a self-centered playboy. In Cotillion she took the Regency version of Bertie Wooster and, rather than pairing him girls who read Nietzche, she gave Freddy the tender-hearted Kitten. The cute thing in that book is that it looks like Kitten's going to end up with the guy she's had a crush on, the Classic Romance Novel jackass Jack. But she picks Freddy. Yay!

Another great pairing in Cotillion is Freddy's extremely stupid and good natured cousin Dolph, who is paired with a gentle but Very Sensible (think Mary Poppins) woman who can take him in hand without torturing him as his mama does.

In The Corinthian we have a fop who falls in love with a trouble-making scamp. But in other Heyers, when a less frivolous hero runs into the Regency Manic Pixie Dream Girl, he gladly turns to his plainer and quieter childhood friend to help fix all the problems (Charity Girl, The Foundling.) The Foundling was especially cute cause the hero was slight, with a bad leg--babied by his family and servants. He has to escape them! before he can have a bit of fun.

Since my protagonist is a Freddy, I feel she needs her own "Kitten." She needs to be the slightly less ineffective of the two.

In the old rom version of my story Love Interest was played by Roy Dupuis, who you might recognize as Michael from Nikita. He's (as Wodehouse would say) steeped to the gills in serious purpose.



In my comedy version of the book I recast him as Patrick Huard (below: the French one) cause this actor is a comedian.



But he's too gregarious to be Kitten.

Then this week the song "She Will Be Loved" came on my computer while I was putzing around, and I suddenly pictured Adam Levine. Not his personality, but a tall, too skinny, dark haired guy who has trouble looking people in the eye--and for some reason I can picture Levine in the role.



Though combined with Éric Bruneau when I'm trying to hear him speak in my head. (My hero's not especially cute like these guys. It's just hard to find actors who aren't Ridiculously Good Looking.)*

I suddenly saw my hero: A graphic novel writer/artist, smitten by dipstick Pauline. Now I just need to figure out how to have a dipstick as a protagonist who's supposed to have a Masters in history. I suspect she's going to end up with a BA. She can manage that--even Bertie Wooster went to Magdalen College (Oxford.)

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* Fernando once met a guy I worked with who was this sort of blonde Adonis; and Fernando said: "Oh my God, you are ridiculously good looking! Just like in Zoolander!"