Tom Weston-Jones as Detective Kevin Corcoran in the BBC-AMerican Show Copper.I
RE: 20 Hours to Atlanta.
I admit to being influenced by the various Netflix I watch, and one of my characters was inspired by Kevin Corcoran of Copper, played by Tom Weston-Jones, a pretty man and a heck of a good actor. My character knows the dark side of the street, the deals and compromises that life sometimes imposes and yet is driven by a sense of justice and truth.
Ian McShane as Al Swearengen on Deadwood.
But I’ve been thinking that maybe I want a character with a bit more experience and hard times, one that would have the knowledge and often tarnished optimism of having survived going through hell on frequent flyer miles. Ian McShane has this kind of look, possibly what Weston-Jones will look like in 20 or 30 years.
The years a person spends marks them, and my characters bears a number of scars both on his body and his soul. I’m thinking an older man might make the story have more depth and traction.
How do you go about choosing your leading male?
Me…I would almost like to read a story that has the hero be like the sergeant at arms who saved the Canadian Parliament the other day. Right age..right experience..right humility..right decisions in a very very complex situation. Maybe not all typical Harlequin romance material..but then you may want to cater to your readership demographic. What do I know… If I was so smart why ain’t I rich?
My demographic gags at Harlequin romances. 😉 So I think they would like it better. My heroine is past 40 as well…but more about that tomorrow.
Come to think of it, I haven’t written any main character males. Yes, I’ve got a couple of men in the leading man role, but they’re not the stars of the books. In one of my SFRs, I have an older man in a relationship with the MC. He’s been around the block for sure, but being a martial arts master, very different from models here.
I really liked Copper. Is it returning for another season?
I’m pretty sure they’ve ended Copper. I think the story line would not hold up for another season, and it would probably devolve into Kevin becoming the same kind of Tammany Hall boss that Dugan was. They have made another season of Hell on Wheels, but I think it will be cut short as well. They can’t do much more to Bohannan.