Welcome to Writing Inspiration Friday here at the Saucy Scribe Blog! Today I've got romance author Rachel Brimble in the house.
My Inspiration
‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ has to be the most common questions writers are asked when people find out what we do.
My answer?...I don’t know!
And that is exactly what it’s like for me. I genuinely don’t know where the inspiration for each story comes from. I refuse to acknowledge that Writers Block exists because if I do, then there is a huge chance I won’t write a thing. It might become my reason, my excuse not to sit my butt in the chair everyday and write.
And believe me some days what I write is nothing short of total rubbish! But at least I’m writing and once I’ve got words on the page, I’ve got something to edit and that is how my stories are written.
One word at a time. That’s how all stories are written, isn’t it?
I have written six novels in total, four already published, the fifth due for release in January next year and the sixth currently under consideration and the inspiration for each came differently.
This is the most important thing I think all aspiring writers need to accept – inspiration is all around us but unless you listen, you never ‘hear’ it.
Novels one or two came from newspaper headlines and ended being romantic suspense, the third came as my heroine’s voice. She popped into my head when I was food shopping with the kids and never shut up! Hannah from ‘The Sharp Points of a Triangle’ is funny, feisty and full of spunk. I loved her from the start. She came to me fully formed and my third novel, a romantic comedy, was the quickest I have ever written since and before.
I stepped inside this beautiful house (www.lucknampark.co.uk) and knew it was my hero’s home. Now I just had to figure out his story – a few weeks later, I heard his heroine in my head. She didn’t want to get married but could see no way out. I struggled with her, couldn’t quite understand her story and then I realized she was Victorian and things began to take shape. Her voice was upper class yet she hated her privileged life – BAM! I’d make her a housemaid at Lucknam Park!
At the mention of an arranged marriage, Elizabeth Caughley feels her life is over at the age of three and twenty….so she hatches an escape plan.She will reinvent herself as a housemaid.Overnight, Elizabeth becomes Lily…
Viscount Westrop wants nothing more than his legacy to be passed to his own son one day.Even though he feels insurmountable pity for the unborn child already, he knows how much pain a broken promise can cause and will do what is right.But with the arrival of his new housemaid, his plans are thrown into disarray.Lily is funny, feisty and the most beautiful creature on earth – Andrew is thunderstruck.But if anyone suspects how much he wants to ravish her and endlessly love her, Andrew’s lineage will be in peril.And he cannot let that happen…
Welcome to Writing Inspiration Friday! Today the Saucy Scribe is excited to have author Angela Henry in the house to share a true tale of writing inspiration. Welcome Angela!
Inspiration & Playing the What If Game
The inspiration for my novels comes from many different places. Sometimes, as was the case with my very first mystery, it comes from "ripped from the headlines" stories from the news. And other times, a phrase has gotten stuck in my head and I've built entire novels or short stories around them. But no matter where the spark comes from, the next step is always the same. Like many authors, I play the "what if" game.
In September of 2007, I went on a solo trip to Paris. While I was there, I toured the Palace of Versailles and heard a story from my tour guide about a French queen who gave birth in the palace to a child fathered by her African lover. I was so intrigued by this story that I put my day job as a librarian to good use and I started researching it as soon as I got home.
The child in question was a girl named Louise-Marie Therese and she was allegedly the result of an affair between Louis XIV's wife, Maria Theresa of Spain and her lover an African dwarf named Nabo. Louise-Marie spent her entire life hidden away in a convent in Moret-Sur-Loing France, and finally became a nun at age 31. She was known as the Black Nun of Moret. Most historians doubt that Louise-Marie's mother was really Queen Maria Theresa and point out many inconsistencies in the myth surrounding the Black Nun of Moret. But as an author all I could think was: what if the story was true?
Needless to say, the seed for a novel was planted in my mind. Intially, the book started out as a YA fantasy novel. I wrote about 50 pages and showed it to my agent. He wasn't exactly bowled over. So I scrapped it and decided to take all the elements of the story that I loved and go back to what I knew best: mystery/suspense. But I still didn't have a main plot. Or so I thought. Turns out I already had the perfect plot. After all, I was a librarian and I had been on a solo trip to Paris. Clearly, it was time to play the what if game.
So, what if an American librarian on a solo trip to Paris had an adventure? What is she got mixed up in murder, mayhem, and the search for a priceless book hidden centuries ago by the secret daughter of a French Queen? What if she was forced to go on the run with an infuriating Frenchman who set her senses on fire? Well, that's the plot for the book that because The Paris Secret. The Paris Secret will be released in the fall of 2010 by Harlequin's digital-first imprint, Carina Press.
CONTEST! And what if you commented on this post and told me where you get your inspiration? You might win an autographed copy of my most recent Kendra Clayton novel, Schooled in Lies!
Schooled in Lies, book #4 in the Kendra Clayton Mystery series, is now available! GED instructor Kendra Clayton's high school days were nothing to brag about. So she's not too thrilled when on top of having to take a class to renew her teaching certificate or be fired, she gets roped into serving on her high school's reunion committee. Then to make matters worse, Kendra and the other committee members start receiving strange messages and having freak accidents. When one of the accidents results in a death, Kendra is convinced it's murder...
Thanks for coming by the blog today and sharing in Writing Inspiration Friday! By subscribing to the blog and/or GoogleFriending the Saucy Scribe, you increase your chances of winning. Winners are chosen at random from the commenters. Contest remains open until 11:59pm Sunday August 22nd. Winner is announced in my Monday morning blog - come on back to see if it's you!
Welcome to Writing Inspiration Friday with my guest blogger, Kaily Hart! Thanks to Kaily for stopping by today to spread a little bit of inspiration with readers of the Saucy Scribe! As usual, there's a contest after the post for commenters, don't forget to come back Monday to see if you're the lucky winner!
Inspiration. It’s a funny thing, for me anyway. Sometimes it’s difficult to say where it comes from. Sometimes it’s really hard to pinpoint the birth of an idea, a concept or a premise. Sometimes when people ask me ‘how did you come up with that?’, I just have to say I have absolutely no idea. LOL.
I can certainly pinpoint specific things in the story and know where they originated from. It’s usually from my own background or history, it could be something I’ve seen or heard, something I’ve read about and it layers itself in somehow. But it’s the feel of the story, the characters and the tone of their journey, that really stumps me because they’re not anyone I’ve ever met or come across before. Often their struggles are not mine. They’ve been developed solely from my imagination.
Picture This, my first book from Ellora’s Cave was like that. I can highlight very specific things in the book and know exactly where I drew them from, but the premise? I don’t know. It just ‘formulated’ in my head somehow. The characters? I’m not sure, they just came to me and started talking. Actually, they insisted I write their story (in very loud voices) and I had no choice. I’m not nuts. Really! I’m not one of these people who always knew deep in their hearts or their souls that they were meant to be a writer. I’m not one of these people who have always been driven to write, often from when they were children. I was on a very different path, both personally and professionally when I found myself taking a ninety degree turn and ended up writing a hot and steamy romance.
That was only just under two years ago. Now, it lives in me, the need to create and craft and shape the stories I have clamoring in my head and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I guess it might have been there all the time, just very successfully masked. Where ever the heck it comes from? I just hope it continues so I can keep doing what I’ve come to crave and to love!
Picture This
Desperate and young, Jillian Moore did something she knew would one day come back to bite her in the ass. She’d posed nude. For money. Years later, and on the fast track to a successful career, she’s still haunted by her mistake. She can’t help but wonder when her past will catch up with her.
Samuel Steele is not short on female attention, but the women who warm his bed pale in comparison to the fantasy he’s created of the seductive temptress in the painting hanging prominently in his bedroom. A fantasy that has ruined his once satisfying sex life. When he discovers that her exact likeness works in his building—for him—things get…interesting.
Kaily is giving away a free download of her book, Picture This, randomly to a commenter on this post. Contest is open through midnight Sunday August 8. (For extra chance to win, subscribe to the Saucy Scribe blog by email and/or GoogleFriend me on the sidebar!)
Welcome to Writing Inspiration Friday here at the Saucy Scribe Blog! Today I'm pleased to have Angelika Devlyn in the house to talk about what inspired her to take up the pen and write erotic romance!
For as long as I can remember I’ve always been a voracious reader, passionate about everything from fantasy to horror to crime. And then I discovered two things I’d never even looked at before - e-Books and erotica. Well, what can I say? Just like that all important first line in a book, I was hooked. I devoured books as though they were going out of fashion. Clearly, e-Books are a relatively new thing here in England and slow to catch on, but out of fashion they are not.
What surprised me most about these erotic stories was my own attitude towards them. After I’d shaken off the ‘dirty old-man mag’ mentality (because in my town all the paperbacks are on the top shelf) I began to realise that there was much more to these sensual stories than at first it would seem. They had a plot! They could be just as suspenseful as a mainstream adventure, but the sex was better. It wasn’t just added in there as a contender for the worst sex in a book award, these authors had taken the time to use sex to move the plot forward and create a story which more-often-than-not pushed the boundaries in a tantalising and erotic way.
The realisation of what a good erotic story contained represented a crossroads in my life, and I made a pact with myself to get my arse moving and just do what I’ve been thinking about for years - write.
The rest, as they say, is history, but with the tenacity of a hungry tiger, a “take-no-prisoners” attitude, some very supportive friends and many hours and words later, I finally sent my manuscript off and had my story accepted.
Since I’ve not had many reactions to it yet I cannot say what readers will feel about my maiden novel. Nor can I share with you any reviews at this stage. The road to future publications may be a rocky one full of obstacles, unexpected interruptions and hidden black ice. It might even be a fun sleigh ride, like those Calvin and Hobbes go on - only less dangerous - who knows? What I can say, however, is that whatever the future holds, I am determined to keep going; to crack on and break through the ice casing barriers of my mind and just do it!
I want to learn, improve and move on to bigger and better things. I can’t promise myself that will definitely happen or see into the future like the Birds of Doom that have escaped Raven’s Passage in my book, but I do know that to write a story you have to write! Anyone can dream, write lists (which I do a lot) and make goals, but to achieve them is not easy. To stay focused, take action regularly and above all never give up is hard work. You too can smash down that wall of ice which separates you from achieving your goals. And without a pick-axe in sight. All you need is a steely determination and the willingness to see it right through to those last all important words- THE END.
Black Ice: The Dark Kingdom Chronicles is my debut book and the first in the series of the erotic adventures of Ronnie Weaver - a girl transported to another world where the Pandora witches are after her blood. Ronnie will leave behind her safe and comfortable life for one of high adventure, steamy sex and exotic mysticism.
My question to your readers is - If I could snap my fingers and grant you an adventure of a lifetime, what would you ask for?
I will be hanging around to check for comments today. So please do drop me a line. I love to chat.
Angel
Thanks Angel for being here today!
CONTEST! Angel has graciously offered a free download of her first erotic novel to one lucky commenter! Winner will be drawn from comments made before Sunday July 25th at 11:59pm and the winner will be posted on the blog Monday morning - so don't forget to come back and check!
*Email subscribers and GoogleFriends - both found on my sidebar - get extra chances to win each week when they comment*.
As a teenager, I was often told to treasure these moments, as they would be the best that I would ever have. I listened to this advice in FEAR, because if that was the case, then what could there possibly be to live for? And if these years felt like CRAP, then should I expect the rest of my life to be even CRAPPIER?
I know I was not the only person to receive this little tip, so I'm certain that some people must actually feel this way to some degree, which I can't even imagine. Living in the past is something I've never felt compelled to do, and have always been pushing forward towards a better and brighter tomorrow. Which a lot of the time, is simply not the case. My life past high school isn't crappier, but it hasn't been a delightful climb into the heights of delirious happiness either. It's been an emotional rollercoaster, filled with highs and lows, but I can honestly say that the lowest of the low, for me, was the teenage years.
These were the years that I began to write. I wrote sad, depressing poems about life and death, in a confused attempt to understand myself and the purpose of my life. It was helpful I suppose, and I found that over the years, as my spirit lightened, and my despair faded, I wrote less and less.
Until now. Having my husband deploy for his military tour in Afghanistan was one of the most difficult experiences of my life, mainly for having to watch my two children struggle with his absence and the adjustment to our lives. Feeling uncertain of how to handle this, I resorted back to writing. But this time? Ten years later? I didn't feel the need to understand myself as much as I had in earlier years. I know who I am, what I value, which direction I want my life to go and how I plan to get there. Writing sad, depressing poetry? Well, that would serve no purpose other than to push me further into a deep, dark hole of despair and desperation.
What made me feel better? What inspired me to move on? What actually helped me pull through this challenging time, was writing a positive and humorous reflection of the moments in our life. Not a convoluted version that inaccurately describes our days as being happy-go-lucky moments, but a portrayal of how even the most brutal of brutal experiences can be something to laugh about. And in writing this, I found that the opportunity to share my thoughts and feelings about these moments inspired other people too. Which was all kinds of inspiring for me to continue blogging my heart out and sharing our story.
Some days, I find myself holding my head in my hands, frustrated with the chaos of managing to find enthusiasm for my son's dinosaur expression, while cleaning up the floors from the mess of my daughter's potty training attempts. The same place I had just cleaned up my yorkie's pee, after he jumped up from my lap, made eye contact with me and deliberately lifted his leg, all because I was unwilling to throw his ball for the 90th time. But these moments? They can be inspiring all the same, because as horrific as a day can get, the worst ones are often made of the best material for writing.
One commenter will win this cute notepad with magnetic closure. Fits in your purse or in your pocket and is great for writing down inspiration when it strikes!
Want to increase your chances of winning a Writing Inspiration Friday give-away? Subscribe to my blog by email (subscribe box on the sidebar) and/or GoogleFriend the Saucy Scribe for an extra chance each week!
Winner are announced on the Monday blog - so check back!
(Winners chosen at random from comments made by Sunday 11:59 est.)
Welcome to the newest blog feature here at The Saucy Scribe Blog! For at least the next few months, every Friday you'll find a post about what inspires writers to write or what inspired their latest release. Be sure to check out the sidebar for a list of guests!
Today, I'm going to kick the idea off and tell you a little about what inspired my first novella, The Kandy Shoppe. If you stick around to the end of the post, and comment, you could win one of two prizes. Winners will be chosen at 11:59pm est Sunday evening and announced Monday morning, so you have all weekend to comment!
I'll be honest, I never thought about writing a novella. All my plots and books up to that point were novel size. I had just finished a book that was pretty emotional for me and during the period of "letting it sit and stew" I flipped through my notebook of ideas.
Nothing was strking enough of a cord to make me want to dive in and write that story - you know that feeling of "OMG I have to write this before I bust open!" - Nope not happening.
Being between books is NOT the most inspirational time for me, it's when I doubt my ideas, it's when I wonder if I'll ever have another idea good enough for a whole entire book.
In the middle of a funk I found myself in the local grocery store - in front of the ice-cream freezer making the earth-shattering decision of what flavor ice cream I would drown my sorrows in - when inspiration struck.
At that moment all I could see was a little old-fashioned ice cream palor, a broken freezer and one hot-damn sexy freezer repair man!
And even though I was NOT an erotic writer - this was an erotic story begging to ooze from my fingers - and it was a short story. (Honestly, that fact alone surprised the heck of me - I'd never considered trying my hand at a novella until that day.)
After a little bit of convincing from my critique group and few trial runs flexing my erotic muscles (on paper!) the story took on a life of it's own.
Not only did it sell quick - it was the debut book for a brand new ePublisher, Blade Publishing.
I can now honestly say that I never know where the inspiration for my storylines might come from or what direction they might take.
Do all ideas that are born in crazy places like the frozen food section of the local grocery story often turn into stories? No, they don't. But I do keep my eyes, ears and heart open at all times, with a pad at the ready - in case that inspiring moment does come along!
I hope my story inspires you to go out today and write something different than your "normal" story - explore a new idea, a new direction or simply take a different path!
Thanks for reading! Since this is the debut of Writing Inspiration Friday's, I'll be giving away two prizes today. Chosen randomly by an uninterested party (my daughter!) one commenter will win a free download of The Kandy Shoppe (pdf or mobi, which can be read on kindle if you prefer) and the other will win a pkg. of acid-free scrapbook stickers in, of course, an ice-cream shop theme!
(Want to increase you chances of winning every Friday? Subscribe to my blog by email - put your email in the box to the right and submit - and your comments on every Friday post automatically count twice! "Friend" my blog with Google Connect - also on the sidebar - and you add another chance every Friday you comment!)
"Easy reading is damned hard writing." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
With Memorial Day weekend behind us it's official beach going season here on the East Coast. That means it's also summer reading season! Lazy days at the beach, on the boat or just in an adirondack chair in the back yard under the shade of a giant maple - perfect ways to get lost in a good book.
Stores are gearing up for the "beach read" days ahead with lighthearted, easy going stories. I'm no exception. I love the summer and whether it's a book in my beachbag or on my eReader - you can bet I've got something fun to read with the margharita by the pool!
What are your favorite types of "summer reads?" Do you want light and frothy while you lay on the beach blanket soaking up the summer rays? Or, is this the perfect time for a deep, dark paranormal? Me? I'm never really the dark and dreary type (I usually don't read crime novels.) I'm more a fan of lighthearted, fun and quirky (what a coincidence - that's what I write - LOL!)
On the writing side of things, today over at the Dunes & Dreams RWA blog we've got a guest blogger! Scott Eagan from the Greyhaus Literary Agency will be posting and taking pitches in the comment section, so if you've got that perfect beach read ready to pitch to an agent - here's your chance!
Scott is currently looking for romance and will consider some YA too. Check out his website for exactly what he's looking for and exactly what he's NOT looking for right now.
Even if you don't have anything to pitch, it's always interesting to get an agents take on the market, so we hope you'll come by and join us! (I should note that Scott is a West Coaster - so while I'm posting this in the early am EST, he won't be posting until later - if you don't see the post yet, check back later on PST!)
The Saucy Scribe, proudly serving up the Sauce since June 2005! One bold writer telling it like it is.
Thanks for stopping by the blogging home of romance author Debora Dennis! I'm a wife, mother of three great kids (one on the autism spectrum) and a writer. This is the place I hang my hat to let my hair down and ramble on about my life.
Grab a chair and drink and get ready to Dish with Debora, saucy style. All comments, rants and raves contained in this blog are strictly my unvarnished opinions or delusions that are alive and well in the vast recesses of my own wild imagination.
I love comments, but lurkers are welcome too! Just know I'm glad you found me and hope you come back again soon!
