How much of you is in your hero/heroine?

Good evening.

I was driving home from my J.O.B. today and I was thinking about the couples in my two books, and the couple in my upcoming.  I've never really thought about it, but as I look at the three heroines, Ramona, Shara, and Izzy (From my newest WIP.)  I realize that very big parts of them come from me.

Ramona:(Dream in Color)  Starts out very overweight, in completely in love with a teen idol rock star, and loves late night pizza.  Has mother issues.  Hates that she lives the life everyone expects her to live.

Shara: (Lies in Chance)   Loves horses, is good with kids,  is blond.  (I think I'm blond.  I had blond hair before I started coloring my hair.)  Has mother issues.  Refuses to live the life everyone expects of her.

Izzy: (Fresh Ice)  Loves to read, loves her daughter, drinks coffee by the gallon.  Has mother issues.  Never could live up to the life everyone expected her to live.

Yeah, you get a pretty clear picture of me if you look at my heroines.

As I look at the things that make my heroines special, and, well, heroic, I see, too, the talents I dearly wish I had:

Ramona: (Dream in Color) Can compose music and arrangements that are brilliant and plays piano like a dream.

Shara: (Lies in Chance) Can sight read music and has a photographic memory.  Oh yeah, and she can sing, cook, and wrangle horses.  (Shes' my renaissance girl.)

Izzy: (Fresh Ice)  Can figure skate like a dream.

I always tell people I can't make a book work until  I fall in love with my leading man.  And let's look at my leading men in my books (and the pictures that inspired the characters):

Jesse Alexander:  (Dream in Color) Okay, it's Rick Springfield.  Let's just move on.  I met Rick at a meet and greet almost 10 years ago...his personality and patience blew me away, but so did the juxtaposition of his face, which is not that of an air brushed teen idol, and his body  (oh yeah, I went in for a hug) which ....let's just say, wow.  Wow.  I got such a clear image of who I wanted Jesse to be in that one hug.

Brian Jacobs: (Lies in Chance) This goes back to my childhood hero, Randy Mantooth, TVs Johnny Gage.  I met Randy 12 years ago, and again, personality was an A+.  Plus, he's every bit as dreamy as he was back in the 70's, just with better hair.  Hugging him  (yep, I'm shameless) was like finding a missing piece of myself.  When you love someone from afar for 30 years, one hug can mean a lot.

Quinn Murray: (Fresh Ice)  Okay, calling David James Elliott...I'm ready for my hug!  LOL!  Seriously, something about David's wonderful work as Harmon Rabb in JAG spoke to me when I sat down to write "Fresh Ice."  There's something about a hero who is a hero because there's just no one else around...but someone who doesn't see himself as being all that great...it's like the perfect blueprint for a romantic hero.  So yes, Quinn Murray is that heroic guy with a really, really dark soul.  He needs saving more than anyone he saves. 

I don't know if anyone else approaches it this way.  Maybe every author sees themselves in the hero/heroine. 

Maybe that's why my love scenes tend to be far less graphic than many of my fellow authors.  I'm a married lady!  (And my heroes are all inspired by married men.)  And no matter how I work it, the heroine is still in very large part me, so something super graphic, while fun to read, is too hard for me to write realistically.  It's hard for me to put aside my own morals when I see so much of me in that character. 

So, friends, how much of you do you put in your hero/heroine?  And how much of a real person do you put in the character of the opposite gender?


And Mr. Elliott?  One hug...that's really all I need!