the dreaded literary meme (according to painted maypole)

Well. Painted Maypole sure has, erm, painted a lovely picture of me. (sorry.) I hope no one is terribly disappointed when it comes to light that I'm actually just an ordinary human being. ;)

And now the meme. Back before I even had this blog I was tagged...it was sort of the final push to begin blogging. Painted Maypole calls it "the dreaded literary meme"...but I call it fun. The very long and descriptive title is Ten Literary Characters I Would Totally Make Out With If I Were Single and They Were Real But I’m Not, Single I Mean, I Am Real, But I’m Also Happily Married and Want to Stay That Way So Maybe We Should Forget This. I have a take similar to that of Painted Maypole: I've never really read a book and thought, "wow, I sure would like to kiss him." But I have had this thought many times: "wow, I sure would like to be part of that kiss." And since I read just about anything I can get my hands on I'm pretty sure I can come up with ten easy.

(Please don't call me a copycat...but I have to use two that Painted Maypole choose. One book I recommended to her, and the other book (well, series) she got me started reading. Before I even read her list I thought of these two characters....)

In no particular order...

1. Henry from The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Clare and Henry just have such passion for each other. I've read this book three times, and there are scenes that still make me a bit dreamy-eyed. And just knowing that the first time he kisses her is not the first time she kisses him...or something...it all gets a bit confusing. But I love it.

2. James/Billy from A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

I don't want to write too much about this one, because if you haven't read it I could potentially ruin a lot of the story. And I highly recommend it. What I can say is that the main character wants so badly to kiss him (not just to kiss him, but to be able to have a real relationship with him...like I said, it's hard not to give anything away!) that it's very difficult not to be fully involved in the story.

3. Cal from Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Partly this is because kissing Cal could literally be hazardous to my health. Partly it's because he so wants to kiss Lace but knows that if he does, bad things will happen... But mostly it's just because Cal is so cool, the smart guy who is way more than just a brain.

4. Dave the Laugh from On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (and also the following six books) by Louise Rennison

Help me out, it's been awhile...Dave the Laugh isn't in the first book, is he??

Anyway, who doesn't love Dave the Laugh? Georgia is truly herself when she's snogging Dave the Laugh, and when she's talking to Dave the Laugh, and when she's laughing with Dave the Laugh. Besides, who else could so beautifully pull of phrases like, "The hills are alive with the sound of PANTS." ...?? :) Truly fabby.

5. Romeo from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Okay. I know it's cliché, but seriously. They climbed mountains of adversity to get married. What a moment!

6. Jack Reacher from the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child

This one is slightly more difficult to explain. He's big, he's strong, and he knows 22 ways to kill you using only his pinky. If I was in trouble, there is no doubt I'd want Jack Reacher coming to rescue me. But, somehow, he's kissable, too. :)

7. Legolas from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Those who know me know I have a tiny, tiny thing for Orlando Bloom. But honestly, Legolas was always my favorite character. And who wouldn't want to kiss an elf? Magic!

8. Edward from Twilight (and the following books) by Stephenie Meyer

Perfection. Deadly and terrible, but truly the definition of perfection.

9. Richard from the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind

This is my inner geek shining through: I just admitted to the world that I am completely addicted to a fantasy series. Magic, dragons, sword fights, the whole deal. I guess I'm also showing that I'm a fan of next-to-impossible love, for Richard and Kahlan's relationship is another that has to be fought for.

10. Tristan from the Tristan and Isolde novels by Rosalind Miles

I know this story is very old and there are many versions, but I like Miles' version of Tristan. A beautiful, melancholy love...I cry for them every time. And how lovely to have a knight kiss your hand and offer you his sword?!


And for the bonus answer, because I can do whatever I want, here is another character...but this one is about as far from "literary" as you can get...

Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Laugh if you like. I know he's a vampire. And I know most of you are laughing at me for watching the show in the first place. But that lovely British accent, the insane way he acts when he realizes he's fallen for a human and the lengths he'll go to to convince her...*sigh*


Okay. That was tremendously long and took much longer than I expected. But how fun! And now I have to tag Rose Daughter, my "bestest friend in the whole wide world", who has a brand-new blog of her own!