The research I've been doing is all about tattoos. Because I don't have any or know anyone who does, I find it a unique experience to create a character who does have them. For me, one question needs to be answered:
What do they have inked for posterity on their bodies?
I think it's an interesting point to flesh out to show the reader more deeply of who that character really is. I'm doing it now and have done it before. In My Angel the hero is a retired drummer wearing plenty of ink and this is how the heroine, an angel, views them:
"There were drumsticks around his wrists, a variety of naked women and skulls, a sun rising above a horizon around his hip, and others she couldn’t quite decipher. The words Hit Man written across his chest she knew was his nickname and assumed it was because of being a drummer, not because he was a Mafioso wannabe. Some were in color and others black. It was an interesting mix and she’d have to ask him what they represented to him, but specifically why a sunrise. That was the most moving piece she could see."
Everything that hero had done in life was there in particular tattooed pieces and that's what I seek now for the hero in Missing in Paradise. I know who he is, but I want the reader to know him as well. So, I've been searching through tattoo shops for samples, and found nothing that suited my man. My solution is to design it myself and then I have something to detail and explore further for the reader.
Wish me luck.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the heroine in My Angel doesn't have any tattoos and then, well, it's one of those twists I so enjoy adding to a story.
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