Where do you find your inspiration? How does it translate into what you're working on?
A few years ago, I took my first trip to Italy. One of the top sites to visit for me was Mount Vesuvius. At the time, I was writing Under Another Sun, a book I've finished, but am still looking to publish. Not to give anything drastic about the story away, but at one point in the novel, Vesuvius makes an appearance. Nothing helped me visualize what I needed to write like staring into the crater of Vesuvius itself. To imagine the sheer destruction and power it contains was awe-inspiring.
Under Another Sun~ "A crack in time saves 99"
But what does that mean?
Ray is about to find out, whether he's ready or not. Plagued by dreams and conversations with his 'deceased' twin sister Ravynn, Ray and his wife both fear for his sanity. But when Ravynn's surviving daughter starts to receive ominous warnings of the world falling down around them from her mother as well, things get interesting.
Can Ray find a way to save his unique family before it's too late?
Another almost daily inspiration for me is getting out and going for a hike. There's something perfect about the Northern California sunshine and nature surrounding me. It often helps not only to get the blood flowing, but for me to clear my mind, rid myself of cluttered or busy thoughts, and find focus again so I can sit down after and get creating.
And most recently, I found out the release date of my upcoming novel, Inside. I decided that warranted a quick getaway celebration to the coast, to breathe in the salt air and escape the overwhelmingly hot day. At the coast, it was perfectly temperate, a cool wind blowing, the sun shining down, and a salt water-taste in the air.
It was a great way to reward myself, but also sit and contemplate my third novel, In Between. This particular novel is giving more trouble than anything I've ever tried to create, but its also the story that fascinates me the most, and lies nearest to my heart and home.
In Between is a story about a girl who has Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. Not only does it make her see things differently when she's tired, but it gives her the 'gift' of being able to see in between the world she knows, and the world that lies underneath. As an adult, she's certain she's put all of it behind her, but the ghosts of her past are calling her home.
