Thursday Thirteen - 224 - 13 Ways Richard Armitage Serves as My Muse

On Monday, the actor who serves as muse for my Scorpius character will turn 40. To mark this illustrious milestone, here is a series of 13 screencaptures from several of his projects that stand in for my own fictional character, Scorpius, featured in my Tuesday/Wednesday serial feature. You can CLICK HERE to read the boyhood backstory so far.

I wish Richard Armitage a very happy birthday with much gratitude, as he has given me a character whom I have grown to love deeply.

The synopsis for the adult Scorpius storyline:

Scorpius is freed from captivity and torture when the noble he serves is ransomed. Delivered to the service of the Lady Elysande, he rises to become Chamberlain of her Keep, just as the wars between the houses become secondary to a series of dragon sightings and attacks.

Elysande is an adept who works in secret to draw the essences she needs, in order to create enough power to summon a dragon. The terrorizing beasts will be the deal-breaking weapon that will end the wars and restore peace. But she requires pain and suffering in order to draw the right essences.

In Scorpius,she discovers a kindred spirit – but does he truly understand the limits to which she must push him?


















































Screencaptures from:
North & South
Spooks/MI-5
Strike Back
BBC's Robin Hood

Thursday Thirteen - 132 - 13 Ways to Say Happy 40th Birthday to Gerard Butler

As many of you know, I'm rather partial to Scottish actor Gerard Butler.

On Nov. 13th he turns the big 4 - 0. Here are 13 wishes for him on this milestone birthday. He's the inspiration for a fictional character that I'm currently writing about during NaNoWriMo, a month-long writing marathon.

Thanks, Gerry.


- 1


"If you count all your assets, you always show a profit."

- Robert Quillen










- 2











"Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned."

- P. T. Barnum


- 3











"It's being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way you're going to get respect from the players."

- Larry Bird


- 4









"A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor, for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself."

- Jessamyn West


- 5















"Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again."

- James Cook


- 6















"The lion is most handsome when looking for food."

- Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Photo by Patrick Fraser


- 7















"The higher the hill, the stronger the wind."

- John Wycliffe

Photo by Debra Hurford Brown


- 8










"When you reach the top, that's when the climb begins."

- Michael Caine

Photo by Dagblat (Norway)


- 9















"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."

- Erich Fromm

Photo by Amanda De Cadenet


- 10










"Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other."

- Carlos Castaneda

Photo by Martin Pope


- 11









"Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion."

- Scottish Proverb

Photo by Fotogramas.es


- 12















"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Genius will not. Education will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Calvin Coolidge


- 13















"The face you have at age 25 is the face God gave you, but the face you have after 50 is the face you earned."

- Cindy Crawford