Favourite Flavours - Ice Cream and Heroes, Annie West

Researching in Italy

Some of you may have followed my recent FaceBook posts of a quick trip to Europe. Interestingly some of the photos that provoked the greatest interest were the pics of ice creams enjoyed along the way. What does that say about romance readers? Possibly that we're women of great taste who know the importance of a treat now and then.

Now I've returned home and am starting to turn my mind to my next story. Last night I was mulling over the question of what my next hero would be like and, in my slightly jet-lagged brain, the two subjects became linked: the nature of my hero and ice cream. Yes, I know, a writer's brain can be odd.

But think of it this way. When it comes to choosing a hero, we have a whole smorgasbord to choose from. Rather like this:

There are so many flavours of ice cream to choose from, but the same goes for the guys who strut across the pages of our romances. Each one is different, with his own foibles and fears, passions and strengths. There are an infinite variety to choose from. As fellow LoveCat Michelle Douglas and I discovered some time ago.  We invented a game of comparing our heroes with ice cream flavours. It soon became obvious that each of our heroes had his own particular flavour.

For instance, Fabrizio, the take-no-prisoners Roman aristocrat who stars in my current novella release 'Back in the Italian's Bed' is rich, strong coffee ice cream, probably made from dark, potent ristretto. His perfect match is a woman who's not afraid of that jolt of a high you get from a good, strong coffee or a challenging hero.

Then there's Damaso, the Brazilian slumdog tycoon in my September release. Definitely rich rum and raisin ice cream served with rum-soaked tropical fruit.

Or my most recently written hero, Asim, ruler of his own desert kingdom. His ice cream flavour is wild honey rippled through with pistachios and topped with Persian pashmak.

Looking back, I realise all my heroes have their own distinctive flavour. Maybe I should make it my business to recreate all of them next summer. In the meantime I've got the fun job of deciding what style of man my next hero will be and what sort of flavour. He's strong and ruthless but not uncaring and he definitely has a sweet side, albeit well hidden. I'm thinking possibly dark chocolate with rich cherry centre, but I need to do some more research before I decide. Usually I make those decisions by sitting staring into space, imagining my hero. Now I'm thinking I might also do some hands on taste testing. I wonder if that would help. I'm sure it can't hurt.

How about you? What flavour do you think your favourite hero might be? Chocolate and raspberry ripple? Strong peppermint? Caramel or even passionfruit? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

By the way, no heroes were injured in the making of the ice cream featured in this post.