Gimme 5 Things About Building Characters

I have a post up on the Casablanca Authors blog today about how I build my characters (just click on the title of this post to go there).

I'm often asked about my characters and love it when readers talk about them as if they are real people (probably because they are real to me)!

A few things you might not know about my writing process...

1. My characters pretty much name themselves, at least the main characters. I've been known to go through the phone book for names for my minor characters!
   
   
2. There's a wee bit of Yer Olde Aunty in all her characters. Yes, even the villains! Maybe especially the villains. HA!
   
   
3. Sometimes my characters are based on real people, but usually it is only a certain aspect of that person. Might be the name (yes, I named a character in The Treasures of Venice after a friend who had an Italian name I liked), or a facial expression, or some personality trait. Careful, you too could end up in one of Aunty's books someday!
   
   
4. All of my characters have a distinctive 'voice' that I hear inside my head when I'm writing their dialogue. No! Please don't call the men in the white coats. I'm not the only writer who 'hears voices!' Honestly, I'm not.
   
   
5. I am a little in love with all my heroes. If I don't love them, then why should my readers?
   

Now it's your turn! Do you have a picture of the characters when you read? Do you want to know who the writer had in mind when they created the character? Or would you rather have your own interpretation?