Writerly Wednesday - Inspiration

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Writerly Wednesday, a weekly meme I started to talk about anything pertaining to writing, whether it's my journey as a soon-to-be-published author (SQUEEE!), a writing resource I find valuable, or an author or publishing company I find inspiring. :) Today, I want to talk about inspiration.

Inspiration comes from many different places. As an author, I have to keep my eyes and ears open at all times. Some of my most inspired ideas, though, have come while I'm in the shower or when I'm about to fall asleep - those rare times of day when I'm not consumed with keeping a family, a job and a house satisfied.

For my upcoming novel, Into the Spiral, I got the inspiration for Ronnie, the main character, from two simple words: spontaneous combustion. I'd decided I wanted a character who was on the verge of combusting because of everything happening in her life. In the original beginning of the novel, Ronnie was walking down the street, listening to her iPod and trying to drown out the nagging voices of everyone telling her what to do. From there, the idea branched out and Ronnie became a real person. (She was also inspired in personality and looks by my dear friend, Lindsay, who I work with.)

For my Mason Ridge trilogy, the inspiration came from a writing prompt on Writing,com. The prompt was for The Witch's Circle in October of 2008, a month-long supernatural short story contest. The prompt was to have a mix of supernatural characters in one story, including a werewolf, vampire, ghost and a human (I think a troll was included, too, but that never made it to my novel). That November for NaNoWriMo, I wrote Losing Control, the first novel of the Mason Ridge trilogy. The title of that book was also inspired by the song Lose Control by Evanescence (the video I've shared below).

Inspiration can come from anywhere. I always have something with me to take notes in, whether it's pen and paper or the notepad option on my phone. A snippet of overheard conversation can inspire an entire scene or chapter. Seeing a live Big Cats show at the county fair can inspire a novel about a shapeshifting family that travels around the US as a similar show (yes, this is my idea; please don't steal it!). The local news, headlines of major papers, even a magazine article can inspire something written. I've found I'm most inspired by music, others around me, and reading books (which usually leads to tons of research. LOL).

Where does your inspiration come from? 

Happy Writing!
EM