Meet my new boyfriend....

Okay, not really; he's just my newest crush-come-character-inspiration (and don't tell my husband I said that, LOL!--wait, he already knows about my "crush" so I guess it's okay!).

Ladies, meet Gilles Marini. If he took off his clothes (*all* his clothes), you might recognize him as the 'naked guy' from the Sex and the City movie (which, incidentally, I haven't seen--though I have viewed the clip of the famous 'outdoor shower' scene on YouTube--and yes, it was....ahem....quite inspiring). But if you watch the current season of Dancing with the Stars, you know exactly who Gilles is--the guy who surprised everyone with his unbelievable natural dancing ability, who's rocked the dance floor every week with some of the hottest ballroom dances EVER! (and if you think "hot" and "ballroom dancing" don't go together, well...you've obviously never watched DWTS!).



Whew...so yeah, he's hot. And he's French, with the sexiest accent. He can dance like you wouldn't believe. But there's more...he's a devoted husband and father, completely humble, and utterly charming, to boot. After he completes a dance, he often runs over to kiss his beautiful wife, sitting on the edge of the dance floor. He brings his children to watch rehearsals. Sigh......the perfect man, perhaps??

I'm pretty sure I've never before been so completely charmed and entranced by a DWTS contestant. And it's not just me--in a matter of weeks, the guy went from an almost unknown ("Who, the naked guy from Sex in the City?") to a show front-runner, a household name. Luckily, he's paired with professional dancer Cheryl Burke, a seeming slave driver who knows how to bring out the best in her partners, and has already won the DWTS title twice.

So what does this have to do with writing, you ask? Well, I'm finishing up my Oct. '09 historical, A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, right now. The hero, Troy Davenport, is an American painter who studied in France for several years, where he befriended another young painter, Englishman Sebastian Drake. And suddenly, as I was writing scenes that included Sebastian, I started picturing Gilles. Sebastian Drake, Englishman, somehow morphed into Sebastien Dumas, Frenchman--accent and all. It worked! Problem is, right now I'm supposed to be entirely taken with my current hero. And yet, out the corner of my writer's eye, I kept seeing Sebastien standing there, just waiting for his story.



It got so distracting that I had to banish him, sending him 'offstage' to Greece for the remainder of the book! Anyway, it's funny how something so completely unrelated (ballroom dancing, anyone?) can influence my writing; how anyone can inspire, and take over a writer's imagination. I hadn't planned on writing Sebastien's story next--that honor was going to Caroline Cressfield, my heroine's best friend. But now that might change, all thanks to Gilles!

I'll leave you with a video clip to inspire and seduce--the passionate Argentine Tango. Enjoy!



Oh, why not one more?? Especially since he begins the dance shirtless (yeah, I'm that shallow!). The Paso Doble...



So, ladies....whaddya you think of my new guy??