So What is it About Inspiration?

Inspiration is a cloud of smoke, hard to get through and so worthwhile when you do.  I am asked often about the concept.  Where does it come from?  Do you have to conjure it up?  Are there times when it goes away?  I decided to give an illustration through a vignette.  

And speaking of illustrations, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the marvelous illustrator/water colorist of the Bella and Britt series, Samantha Bell.

Sea Turtle Summer came to me, not on a glorious beach with glimmering white sand but in a stark utilitarian hospital room.  Talk about being led by your muse.  She had to work wonders with this one.
 
My husband was recovering from back surgery (happily, he's fine now.)  I sat in his room, net book on lap and waited for inspiration to come calling.  And she did, demanding another Bella and Britt book.   About sea turtles.

So I began Sea Turtle Summer on a frigid February morning in St. Louis and was instantly transported to Clearwater Beach, where the weather was balmy, and the beach was getting busy.  

A female Loggerhead sea turtle was heading back to the sea, but I knew her nest was in trouble.  Enter Britt and Bella, and the girls and I were off and running.

It's a funny thing, inspiration.  Sea Turtle Summer, I know, was a combination of my many early morning walks on Clearwater Beach, all the conversations about the plight of sea turtles and time on my hands that winter morning, willing my muse to conjure up a worthy story.  She hardly ever fails.

Once it began, the book came quickly, and I was able to get the main story in place by the time my husband went home.  Some books do that, I find.  Some do not.  But whichever way they begin, the end game is the goal.  Oh, that and something wonderful and magical in the pages between.  Let's hope my muse or inspiration or spark continues.  It is such a positive thing!

Guest Post and Book Giveaway for Thoughts in Progress: Come On, Muse! Give Me a Break

Every author has a muse.  Really, it's difficult to function without one.  Actually, it's difficult to function with one as well.  Why?  The best synonym I can think of for muse is capricious.  To a muse, that describes each one of them.

For over 2,500 years and throughout western civilization, it is largely acknowledged by artists of every sort that their inspirations, creativity and talent come from them. Yet, in this day and age of scientific thought, one would think this would be a preposterous concept for intelligent people to believe yet it remains the case.   It certainly does!

Visit the Thoughts in Progress Blog today, and learn all about mine.  She visits me at the most inconvenient times and places.  She never gives me warning that she's about to appear. She's rude that way.

But given the choice, could I do without her?  Wouldn't even want to try.  When she's with me, every word floats on its own.  Every page is a poem.  Every chapter has its own brilliance.  I could go on, but then you'd think my muse had left me...

Oh, and by the way, my muse reminds me there is a book giveaway.  One person will win a copy of Katrina and Winter:  Partners in Courage by visiting the blog!  Perhaps your muse will be good to you!

M is for Manuscript-So You Want to Write One?

So you think you'll write a book.  Okay.  It's a good aspiration.  I have but one modest suggestion at the outset:  Be sure that's what you really want to do, as writing that book can be bad for your health, physically and emotionally, if you're not ready or willing to do what it takes.

What does it take?  From my viewpoint, it takes the perseverance of a marathon runner, the patience of a saint and the perspective of an octogenarian at least.

First, let's get an idea.  You know, that new slant, brilliant twist, blockbuster worthy, light bulb busting, aha?

Now comes the research.  Let's see if your topic's been done before.  No?  Great!  Time to get on with the real research.  Are those stats correct?  Be sure the geography is right.  Don't make a mistake with history, for heaven's sake.

Got all that in place?  Fab.  Now it's time to wait for your muse to visit.  Did I mention wait?  Oh, yes.  Because this is a being that delights in calling the shots, usually later rather than sooner.  But finally, she's come calling to accompany you through the morass of story building.

You settle in for a lovely literary liaison with her.  And things go so well!  That first draft of your manuscript is finished.  You are so proud.  So happy.  So fulfilled.

Then it's time to visit your critique group.  Didn't I mention your critique group?  Silly me.  You must have one.  No, no, no to writing in a vacuum.  But not to worry.  You have produced a masterpiece, and everyone there will sing your praises and cast literary lilies at your feet.

Yeah.  Right.  They tear it to shreds.  Nothing left but your title, and half of them hated that. They say things like, "What point of view?  You don't have a point of view." Or perhaps, "These characters are so shallow, I can see right through them."  You know.  Helpful comments.

Home you slog in a huff, manuscript still too hot to handle from all the vitriol spewed upon it. 

Next morning, you take up your quill, open the hateful pages with your fellow authors' marks covering them--and learn!  Waddya know?  Huh.  Their ideas aren't half bad.  And you summon your muse back and begin again.

Now emerges the fun part.What is it, you ask?  Two words, with an article between:  Agent or publisher.  Research revisited.  Yep.  Gotta see who matches whom, as in:  "Why did this agent reject my book?  Yes, she's known for Romance Novels, but surely she cannot resist my concept book."  Have another think about that...


But, hey, miracles still happen  (think George Bailey), and a publisher wants your book.  That's terrific.  You're gonna make millions and fast, too.  Why, it'll only take--how long?  Two years!  I could be dead by then.  What's that?  It'll be published postumously?  Swell. 

And so it goes, But, then again, there's something wonderous, delicious, glorious about writing that manuscript, polishing that manuscript, shining that manuscript, that I would not miss for the world.