Something very French in the Work in Progress

Gaspard Ulliel

I've never written characters like the ones I am writing now. It's risky business. But hey, at this stage, I am going for broke.  When I get up in the morning this is the first thing I want to see, to remind me of how far I have come and how far I have to go. I wish I could tell you his name, what he likes for breakfast, what he does when he's bored. I wish I could share things, but it's too early for that. One day....

Update: Ulliel was always the image for my French boy in my WIP. This year, 2022, he died in an accident while skiing in the French Alps. I was stunned. Literally. And I use that latter word because I have faced so much loss over the years. We are talking 'people loss,' a slew of them. And to hear of his death crushed me because it was another loss, though I did not know him at all. He was so young and a father and a son, and a friend to others, and it was just terrible news and I knew how his family and friends felt. At first I thought I can't look at this photo on my WIP art board every day knowing he is dead. I can't do that. It doesn't matter that  I chose him years ago and studied French while looking at his films. I felt pain. And maybe that pain had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with those I lost.  I changed my mind, but then I changed my mind again. I can't look at it.