Describing the Perfect Hero.

As a romance writer I need an engaging heroine and a desirable hero. Consequently, I need to paint a picture for the reader of said ‘leading man. Tall, dark and dashingly handsome goes without saying but he requires more. Rugged, long, wavy milk-choccie coloured hair, a short beard and sultry, ‘come-to-bed’ eyes with a wry, enigmatic smile.

Sounds perfect? Well he is. That my ideal creation bears a striking resemblance to me 50 years ago in my Wolverine/Yeti days is no coincidence.

I can dream of being a hero, right? After all, it is my novel. However whoever said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder got that dead right. When I posted this photo a fellow writer, Jackie Sayle, suggested I resembled Peter Sutcliff, the infamous Yorkshire Ripper. Maybe I did.

Today my brother sent photos of a younger him with a comment that he was likened to Charles Manson.

Great! We were both people we didn’t want to be. Personally I’d rather be a desirable lover than a corn-flake munching cereal killer. When quizzed, he suggested it was our eyes – the key to the soul. That didn’t make me feel any better. So here it is. We writers have to choose words carefully as each adjective expresses a nuance of emotion. How would you describe my eyes? Ansers on a postcard (virtual) please. I’ll start you off.

‘Sexy’

Of course these days I’d use terms like ‘bloodshot’, ‘insipid’ and ‘Kerry-Packered’ but that’s now.

How about then? But just remember that maybe even though I appear to be a nice bloke on the surface, I just might have a deeper, darker side too.

(Sinister laugh)