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

Fangtastic Friday -The Dhampir

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another awesome installment of Fangtastic Friday! This meme was started by my wonderful friend, Beth Ann Masarik, where we get to talk about every vampire - from books and movies to personal experiences (as showcased in last week's post about LARP). This week, I'm going to talk about the Dhampir.

According to Balkan legend (as cited in Wikipedia), a dhampir is the child of a vampire father and a human mother. This child has similarities to its vampire father though without the weaknesses. They are also supposed to be adept at detecting vampires. Some myths say the dhampir is so ashamed of what it is that it hunts its vampire parent. Its naturally enhanced abilities and detection make it the perfect vampire slayer.

Some dhampirs you may know about include...

(Because I like the way it's worded in Wikipedia, here ya go): According to Richelle Mead's series The Vampire Academy, dhampirs were also made by Moroi men and dhampir women. They inherited the Moroi's strength and speed along with their improved senses. Dhampirs also inherited the ability to stay in the sun for longer from their human ancestors. Dhampirs either grow up in a blood whore town (a town where dhampir women give blood to Moroi men), or in an Academy. In these Academies', they learn how to defend Moroi and how to kill Strigoi. They get a promise mark once they graduate and then they get assigned to a Moroi. But there are also some Dhampirs who go hunt Strigoi on their own or who you can hire to protect you. These Dhampirs aren't assigned to a Moroi.

In the BLADE movies, Wesley Snipes plays a human-vampire hybrid who protects humans from vampires. From the vampire bite his mother received just before giving birth to him, Blade received generative healing abilities, superhuman strength and speed, the enhanced senses of vampires and bloodlust. Blade is able to suppress his bloodlust by being injected with a garlic essence infusion.


I have seen all three movies and know a little about the comic book that started it all. I also know there have been several versions of a game made for this series.

Vampire Hunter D. I'll admit I don't know much about this anime series, except that the D stands for Dhampir. I also know this series of novels has spawned movies (which I have actually seen one of), manga, and action figures. So once again, here is what Wikipedia has to say about it... 
D is a dhampir, the half-breed child of a vampire father and human mother, the ideal vampire hunter. He is renowned for his consummate skill and unearthly grace, but feared and despised for his mixed lineage: born of both races but belonging to neither. Often underestimated by his opponents, D possesses surprising power and resourcefulness, having most of the strengths of the Nobility and only mild levels of their common weaknesses. It has been seen in both movies that his power is not only physical, but extends into the magical realm as well. His supernatural powers make him one of the strongest beings in the world, if not the second strongest second only to his father. However, D prefers his physical abilities, only using his magic in times of great need. Unlike most dhampirs, D is able to live as a "normal" human; however, he is marked by his unearthly beauty and exceptionally powerful aura, and thus rarely accepted by human settlements. In terms of weaknesses, he is randomly susceptible to sun-sickness, a severe type of sunstroke, about once every five years (far less than most dhampirs). D also recovers from it at a rate far greater than other dhampirs. Usually it takes several days to recover from sunlight syndrome, longer if the dhampir is exceedingly powerful, but D recovered in a few hours (around 1-6 hours approximately) despite being one of the strongest if not the strongest dhampir alive. Otherwise, D does not appear to suffer from other vampiric weaknesses usual to dhampirs, being able to physically restrain opponents with his aura and having godlike reflexes surpassing even those of Nobles.


So, that's all I have to say about Dhampirs. Do you know of any I've not mentioned? Do you think dhampirs make the ideal vampire hunters? What if the dhampir lived with its vampire parent?


Happy Friday, everyone!
EM

Tell Me Something Tuesday

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another lovely Tell Me Something Tuesday. The weekly meme is hosted by Cambria Hebert and this week she's asking...

Do you usually like the book better than the movie or the movie better than the book? What is your favorite book to movie adaptation you have ever seen?

I have to say that usually it's a 50/50 shot whether I like the book or movie better. Half of the time I'm disappointed because there just isn't enough detail from the book thrown into the movie and half the time I think the movie does a much better job grabbing the essence of the book than actually reading it did. Some of my favorite book-to-movie adaptions include:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I really felt they did a good job adapting this book into the movie. This is my favorite book of the series (this and HBP), so I was worried what would happen when it went to the big screen. I was not disappointed. From the World Cup Quidditch Match to the revelation of Voldemort at the end, everything important that happened in the book showed up in the movie. I love the special effects of everything in this movie, too. And even though it ended on a sad note (what with Cedric dying and becoming a sparkly vampire ;-p), I still had a sense of hope just before Ron, Hermione and Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express to go home. This was perfect!

The Lord of the Rings trilogy

I slaved my way through these books and without a doubt, I loved the movies better. I just couldn't read all of Tolkien's detailed descriptions anymore! I loved the camera work done, the scenery, and the special effects (and Aragorn!). These movies are probably some of my favorite of all time and definitely, in my opinion, better than the books.

Pride and Prejudice

Again, this is another movie where I enjoyed it better than the book. I'll admit, I'm still reading through the book my first time right now, but it's very painful for me to read. The Classics are not my cup of tea. This movie brought that book to life for me. It took out all the long winded letters and seemingly nonsensical happenings and made me see the way the Bennetts lived, how Mrs. Bennett couldn't wait to marry off her daughters and how Elizabeth was set apart from her sisters. This movie is my favorite adaptation of the book that I've seen so far.

So, that's my answer this week. What are some of your favorite book-to-movie adaptations? Do you always enjoy the book more or the movie? :)

Happy Tuesday!
EM