Where Does My Inspiration Come From?

Right now, I'm working on a Revolutionary War trilogy. All three books are interconnected as the war began in earnest. Most folks don't realize the first protest against the British was the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The Declaration of Independence was written and authorized in 1776, but the war waged from 1773 to 1783, when the Peace of Paris Treaty finally signaled the end of the war. So there were a lot of battles and confrontations to choose from to highlight.

Fortunately, there are great characters in each book, and even though each book can be read as a stand-alone, some of the characters appear in all three books. Which makes things easier or more difficult, depending on your point of view. On the one hand, the setting (Rev. War in the northeastern US) and the major opponents (Sons of Liberty and George Washington, the British) are consistent from book to book, so I don't need to drown myself in research. But then, the downside is how to dovetail the characters together from book to book.

Hey, if writing were easy, we'd all be doing it, right?

One thing I've noticed about these books is even though they are grounded in the Rev. War era, I use modern day music as my inspiration for the first two–the boat in Book One is named Gladys Maria, honoring Gladys Knight, since the boat is bringing a woman named Pip to the colonies. Get it?















Book Two has a heroine who changes her name each time her circumstances change, but she began her life as Fancy. Her mother dressed her in a red gown and told her to be nice to the gentlemen and they'd be nice to her. Thank you, Reba McIntire, for that inspiration.













And Book Three was inspired by one of my favorite movies–Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. My hero is a widower with five children--Adam, Ben, Caleb, Daniel and Elizabeth. Except for the girl, all the names are compliments of the brothers in the movie.

Only a handful of readers will get the connection to any of these, but they are my inspirations and make me smile.

So what inspires you?

Living Life–Pantser Style

Most writers are aware there are two basic approaches to creating a manuscript–people who plot the story out, either by a detailed outline or a simple listing of the plot points (plotters)
or those who don't have a clue when they sit down at the computer where their story is going to go and prefer to fly by the seat of their pants. (pantsers)

In writing, I'm a loose plotter. I'll list the major plot points, get them in order according to Blake Snyder's Save The Cat. Then, I'll write up a synopsis in advance of the story, to see if there's enough story line for a full-length novel. Only then do I dive into the writing of the book.

However, in life, I'm a bit more of a pantser. My sister and I have our house on the market and have been searching for a new area in which to live. We go back and forth over whether we want to buy or rent, if we want to move to a warmer climate, or if we want a condo or a house. Then, you throw in cluster homes and 55-plus communities, and each day is a new adventure.

My California friends were excited for a brief moment when my sister came back from a week's vacation with a book of apartments for rent in southern California. Nice idea, but way too pricey for this girl. The bowling alley house in a nearby town was quite nice, but got snapped up by a buyer before we got our home sold. And the condo in town sold before we could even determine where our furniture might go. Now, we have plans to take a short vacation to Nashville in November. Maybe I'll end up being a neighbor to Reba McIntire. And I can go to the Grand Old Opry every Friday night. Might be fun.

You see what I mean about being a pantser in life? It kinda keeps things interesting.

But my quest for a new home doesn't overshadow my work. I've got a giveaway going on Goodreads, for two autographed copies of Blame It On The Brontes. And two of my books, The Duplicitous Debutante and Expressly Yours, Samantha have made it into the final round of voting on The Romance Reviews's site. If you click on any of the buttons on the right, you'll be directed to their sites. You'll need to be logged in to vote on The Romance Review site, but don't let that stop you. I need every vote I can get.