Writing: What a ride!
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t like to curl up with a good. book. I was still in grade school when I found Harlequin Romances. I lived in a small town in Northern Utah where we had no library, but we had the book mobile. I read every Harlequin they had. I loved the places I could go and the things I could experience through a book. It was like a magic carpet ride.
I have since found authors; Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey, Suzanne Brockmann and many others who write books that are filled with excitement, charming men and women who rise to the challenge. The adventure, suspense and humor whisk me away on a journey full of hills, valleys and tight twists. The heroes make my heart thunder as they tackle every road block in their travels to their happily ever after. The women give me hope that I too can overcome the obstacles in my path to happiness. The interaction of the characters with their families and the people around them make me laugh and at times cry. I am in awe of the many talented writers of the Romance Genres.
I enjoy the ride of a good book, but more than that, I find myself wanting to create my own stories, spin my own tales of adventure and daring. I love the challenge of weaving the story threads together, of letting my characters get into so much trouble none of us know how they are going to get out of it. I anxiously wait to see what will happen next. I’ve been inspired by Sherry Lewis as I have taken writing classes from her and learned the hard work behind the magic, the struggles of hitting the brick wall and having to back up to see where I took the wrong path and lost the truth of the story. She has taught me the painful lessons of perseverance. When the going gets tough, the tough eat chocolate and drink Pepsi, but they never give up.
We are all in different times in our lives, with different challenges to face. When life gets tough a book can transport me somewhere else for an hour, or maybe just five minutes, but it’s a much needed break where I can rejuvenate myself and buoy myself up to handle whatever lays ahead. I want to be able to do that for others. I want to add some laughter to someone’s day, to relieve some emotion through a good cry with a dearly loved character or encourage bravery to get through the next hurdle that lies ahead of them.
I would love to hear from you. How has a book helped you through bad times? What authors do you turn to and why?
Inspiration. It comes in so many forms. People, places, events. And of course, books. Books written by authors who in some way touch something inside us. Something memorable that stays with us. A character. A setting. A belief. A way of life.
So it was with me. When I think of what inspires me, I first think of the people who had the most impact on my life. That would of course be my father and grandfather. My grandfather lived the character John Wayne portrayed in most of his movies. He was a homestead rancher whose word was his bond. My father was the same type of man. Honest. Fair. Truthful. These were men who walked their talk. That is what inspires me.
Have I walked my talk? I'm very ashamed to admit I have not. I've talked about my desire to write books for as long as I can remember. From the time I printed stories in my red Big Chief notebook, to now, I've wanted to write western set stories about men and women with courage and honor, who faced their trials with spirit and even at times, defiance. I wanted to share our family's love of the land, of horses and cattle and the feel of the wind on your face on the open range. There's nothing like it.
I admire many authors who've done what I've dabbled at. What I've started many times, but never finished. I'm inspired by those authors who have achieved my dream and who did so with great impact. There are so many great stories of women's courage, it would be impossible to list them all, but a couple of the books that have inspired me are Lonnie Coleman's Beulah Land trilogy, and True Women by Janice Woods Windle.
This is the year I'm going to achieve my dream. Both in finishing my western set historical, and earning the right to say, yes, I walk my talk. My current mantra? Finish The Damn Book!
I invite you to join me. What are your goals and dreams? Have you accomplished them? Is this your year to do so? What books and authors have inspired you, your life, or impacted your beliefs? Please post your thoughts, your dreams, your joys, and come along for the ride. Let's make this the year we all follow our dreams.
Jolie
As a young child, I did not particularly like to read. I could read and I did read, but reading a book just wasn't as interesting as the other things I could be doing. Why stay inside reading a book when I could run around my Parent's one acre mini-farm playing all manner of role-playing games, or make mud pies, or swing on the swing set, or even watch Pete's Dragon and The Secret of Nimh?
Then I hit adolescence. My friend gave me "Jayhawk" by Dorothy Keddington to read. See, her mother was a regular romance reader, and had offered Keddington's books to her girls as good, adolescent appropriate reads.
Anyway, I'd never read a romance before and I was enthralled. I'd never connected to a character the way I connected to the heroine. Written in first person, I was really able to experience the slow and satisfying progression of meeting, attraction, first touch, and first kiss with all the little events and happenings along the way. There was suspense and danger in just the right portions. She carried the story to a satisfying, all-issues-resolved end, and I was forever hooked. Turns out I didn't dislike reading, but rather that I require a good character-driven romance plot to make reading interesting to me.
I don't think I even waited a day before trying to find the other two books that Keddington had published by that time - "Shadow Song" and "Return to Red Castle". Both were as good, if not better, than "Jayhawk". I was truly inspired.
It wasn't long after that I started writing my first story. Characters of my own were clamoring in my mind and I wanted to create for others the same kind of wonderful experience that she had created for me. That is a desire that stays with me today, a desire that keeps me writing even when my brain is fried and my mood is anything but romantic.
As an adult, the value of a well-written romance novel was proven again when I was pregnant with my first child. I was sick, sick, sick and I couldn't do all the get-up and move-around stuff that I had before. I was miserable and reading became my coping mechanism, my escape. I can't list all the authors that helped me get through that time - the list would be too long.
After I delivered that baby and started trying to write again, I sought out Sherry Lewis for help and for information that I lacked. She taught me things, both amazing and daunting things, about character arc, conflict, point of view, and plot. I am inspired by her and Reese and Jo Ann every day. They keep me Writing the Damn Book!
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