It's release day for "The Trouble With Tony!" Whenever I write a story, I like to google images for inspiration. Sometimes they’re for mood, sometimes they’re characters (major and minor), sometimes they're locations, and sometimes they’re things like a building or a shop or a car that I just like to have a visual reference for. I thought it would be fun to share these with readers.
** Note: I own none of these images – they’re from google. These images were not used in the book, but if you have a problem with my having an image on this website, please email me and I’ll remove it.
So without further ado, here’s my “Trouble with Tony” desktop:
TONY DEMARCO
Tony is an Italian-American private detective from Brooklyn now living in Seattle (in part to elude his big, Italian-American family who don't know he's gay). He was a cop for six years but decided to to go it alone as a P.I. after being shot in the leg. He’s very funny.
I had several images on my desktop to inspire me to write Tony’s character. Here’s my favorite:
This pic was identified as Fabio Cannavaro by a commenter. Thank you!
DR. JACK HALLORAN
Our other MC, Dr. Jack Halloran, was a combat surgeon in the US Army for 8 years until an I.E.D. damaged his left arm, making it impossible for him to do surgery. His PTSD made even working in an ER impossible. He’s now a sex therapist for Expanded Horizons. He’s not a big guy, but he’s a serious bad ass.
I searched for a 'blonde doctor' image to inspire me and I like the attitude on his face. This one made it onto the cover!
Stock image
MICHAEL LAMONT
Oh, Michael! I’m currently working on Sex in Seattle #3, which is Michael’s story, but he makes his first appearance in “The Trouble With Tony”. I love this character! Michael is a sex surrogate and also does in home nursing care part time. He’s slightly built, very cute, and extremely compassionate/empathetic. In my head, Michael is physically based on Isaiah Garnica.
Isaiah Garnica (LA based model/actor)
SETTING: SEATTLE’S CAPITOL HILL
The story is set in Seattle, mostly in and around Capitol Hill, a gay district in Seattle that’s up on a hill (hence the oh-so-brilliant name). My husband and I had a house on Capitol Hill for 15 years and I love the neighborhood! I greatly miss it. Here are a few scenes of this funky/cool area.
EXPANDED HORIZONS
Expanded Horizons is the name of a (entirely fictional) sex clinic on Capitol Hill around which the series revolves. I pictured it on Pike Street between Broadway and 15th, which is an area I walked often. It’s not a very big building. The clinic has a waiting room with receptionist area, three therapists offices, a staff kitchen and meeting room and a, ahem, massage room. This is about the style/size of the building.
DISCOVERY PARK
I’m an avid hiker, so I worked a few of my favorite places to hike into the story. Tony meets up with his police detective buddy, Mark, to discuss the case at Discovery Park, a Seattle park that I miss dearly now that I’m no longer in the area. It has a beach, lighthouse, woods and trails on a bluff, and gorgeous views.
The trail along the top of the bluff.
One of my own photos taken whilst hiking with a friend
MT RAINIER’S SKYLINE TRAIL
One of my favorite hiking trails of all time is the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier. It's quite high in elevation. You can hike right up to the glacier and the views are spectacular. Being above the treeline, the flowers and vegetation are really different from most NW forests. Tony and Jack discuss the Skyline trail earlier in the book and then the epilogue takes place there.
Image by Smigelski Photography : http://www.smigelskiphotography.com/2011/10/mount-rainier/
That's it for this desktop! I hope the pictures add to your enjoyment of the story.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
Sex in Seattle #2, "The Enlightenment of Daniel," has been written and contracted to Dreamspinner and is due out in the Dec/Jan timeframe. This story is about a patient of Jack Halloran's. Daniel is a high-powered Type A business man who has a midlife crisis when he learns his father is dying of cancer. Daniel comes to several life-altering realizations --first, that he's gay and secondly, that he's in love with his male business partner who is in a marriage-in-name-only relationship for the sake of his kids.
Sex in Seattle #3, "The Mating of Michael" (working title), is my next writing project. Tentative pub date is April 2014. This is, of course, the story of Michael Lamont, sex surrogate for Expanded Horizons. I'm very excited to bite into this one!
Eli