Tag Archives: Richard Armitage

Casting the Ideal Hero in Favourite Stories

The ideal hero? The Libertà blog has included a number of posts about heroes, most recently one I wrote about whether a plumber can be a hero. Also posts about villains, who can be more than a little droolworthy, especially when played by Alan Rickman.
Just my opinion. Feel free to disagree. 😉

Today I want to ask about casting your ideal hero in the movie of a favourite book. Any book you choose. Maybe even one you’ve written yourself?
The key question is: who is going to play your hero? And why? Continue reading →

Epiphany: Gifts For Writers? Plus a Bargain Offer

Epiphany — 6th January — marks the end of the 12 Days of Christmas, and the day when the Three Kings brought gifts to the infant Jesus. The tryptich above is by Hieronymus Bosch, dated to around the end of the 15th century. But, with apologies to those who prefer the religious meaning of Epiphany, that’s not what I’m writing about in this blog.

In the UK, Epiphany can be a bit of a downer, an end to things. It’s when we take down our Christmas decorations, put the cards in the recycling bin, and chop up the tree ready for the bonfire. We go back to work, if we haven’t done so already. The fun and games are over. Once we’ve hoovered up all the pine needles and the glitter that gets absolutely everywhere, the house looks a bit drab, doesn’t it? (And, next year, glitter is definitely banned in the Maitland house!) Continue reading →

Hero Allure — Libertà’s Hero Poll Results

How often is hero allure part of what compels us to pick up a book?

Last week we asked people to vote on which qualities would hook them into the hero’s story. We were thinking of just that first engagement: what we learn from the blurb, the first few pages or Amazon’s sample.

Across A Crowded Room

With more and more novels to choose from every year, it’s becoming a major issue. I suppose it’s the literary equivalent of eyes meeting at a party. Something in you jumps to attention and says, “Oo yes, this one.” Continue reading →

Villains to love? Alan Rickman and More

Villains can be a turn-off. But they can also be compelling, fanciable, even sexy. Think Alan Rickman as just about any movie baddie you care to name. (Confession here — I’m a Rickman fan and this blog was partly inspired by him. But there are other baddies here too, and many are from books as well as films.)

Continue reading →