Share Your Jarrad

I dedicated Prince of Arethane to my brother, Joey, and my sister, Dominique because as a very rudimentary mold, I used the three of us as the basis for Karawyn, Jarrad and Dafne.  Essentially it was just the features - I have dark hair, green eyes, my brother and sister both have blonde, curly hair and blue eyes. I can be...sullen and sarcastic.  Dominique is always happy and everyone loves her, and Joey is somewhere in between.  So that's where the royal elves began and then they all developed their own personalities along the way.

To see their faces in my mind, I had to go seeking actual people because once I gave them names and heard them speak, they were no longer my family, but became their own people (er, elves.)  In writing and developing Jarrad, I initially based him on Alex Pettyfer.  He was exactly how I saw Jarrad in my head.

But then he started to appear in more movies and in more interviews and turned out to be kinda douchey, which is not how Jarrad is at all.  So Jarrad out-grew Alex.

And then I watched an episode of Austin & Ally and discovered Ross Lynch and he sort of fit Jarrad.  Right age, right personality--outgoing, a little cocky, playful (as far was the show showed.)

But after discussions with friends, they were not having that.  He's way too young, they said.  He's not rugged enough, they said.  So we eventually landed on this guy.

I have no idea who he is, but they agreed he worked.  Anyway, it made me curious as to how the reader sees a character compared to how I see him.  And I fear offering these photos may be dangerous, it may adulterate what the reader has created in their mind for a character they love, no matter how much fun it is for me.  But it really just makes me curious so if you have a Jarrad, I would love for you to share him.

Best,
Kelly