“How Did You Come Up With The Stories?”

I have been asked this question more than once.  Actually, having no professional training in creative writing, I thought that all authors wrote through inspiration.  When I attended my first book conference, boy, was I surprised!!!  Outlines everywhere… story lines, plot development, character names with development, etc, etc, etc.  And I am quite certain, if they had known what I am about to divulge in this post, these authors would have been shocked!

But here it goes…
I was inspired to write these novels!  Sometimes inspiration is a small tickle in the back of your unconscious or conscious mind as you go about your daily life.  Mine was NOT like that at all!  Mine was a wake up from a vivid dream in the middle of the night – grab me by the throat – in my face demand… “WRITE ME!!!  NOW!!!”   I tell you… How do you say NO to that?!

I believe that at some point, on the way to steal one of our daughters’ spiral notebooks, that I did mumble something along the lines of  needing my sleep, had to work tomorrow, and not even liking to write Thank You notes.  And received a very glib remark, “That doesn’t matter.  Just write!”  And write I did.

So began my writing career.  I don’t know where the stories came from, but I do believe that they, for some reason, needed to be told.  It has taken many years and a lot of hard work on my part to learn the skills necessary to prepare them for publication, and the first draft is not even close to the final product, it’s more like the skeleton.  But as most authors will tell you, they become your children, you conceive them, nurture them, mold them, and then, let them go…  And as every parent knows, this is the most difficult part.  Sure it’s hard, most things in life are, but if you want to succeed, you never ever give up.

I remember one evening, as I was writing in the kitchen (in my spiral notebook) while dinner was cooking, my husband asked me, “How does it end?”  (At this point I was about halfway through Seahawk’s Sanctuary) “I don’t know,” I responded, “I’m not there yet.”   He gave me the strangest look and left the room shaking his head.

One Comment

  1. Posted November 12, 2011 at 1:58 am | Permalink

    I LOVE this!

    I’m from that school too, the no school, it comes from somewhere deep within and must be written so I can stop thinking about it, but first I need to find out a little more, research a bit. I’ve never been to a conference, so I’m still blissfully ignorant in that respect.

    I love the question and the head shake from your husband, I can so relate to that. An inspired ending can be so fulfilling and uplifting.

    Is your book available in print? I might have to splash out on a kindle for Christmas, I’m feeling more and more deprived with discovering books I want to read that are eBook only.

    All the best!