Inspiration

My students often tell me when given a writing assignment that they have no idea what to write and very often that inspiration is one of the most difficult parts of writing. For my trilogy, Valaraii Rising, my inspiration was Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as I have said many times. I discovered the series thanks to an English teacher who assigned independent reading—we had to read 1200 pages a semester—and was convinced I would like the trilogy. With much reluctance, I started The Fellowship of the Ring on a Friday after school and finished the series by Sunday night. My English teacher was right.

I can still remember how mad I was when I reached the final page. Tolkien had created such a magnificent world, Middle Earth, and amazing characters that I didn’t want to leave his realm. I wanted the stories to continue and my immersion in that world to never stop. So, I started writing exceptionally bad fan fiction (for myself, of course). In this way, I could continue to live in Middle Earth as my own character—the character that his world was missing—a strong warrior woman. His stories fueled my imagination and I channeled that creativity to create a world and characters all my own that revolved around me—or an idealized version of me. Frankly, the only characteristics that Sylle and I share are the fact that we both have blue eyes and curly brown hair and an intensity about the importance of family. I wouldn’t know the first thing about sword fighting or hand-to-hand combat or destroying orc. I can shoot an arrow decently. I wouldn’t say amazingly, but I can hit a target. It might be the outer edge, but I can hit it.

The point is that Tolkien inspired my world, but it was truly my deep desire to be seen, to be powerful and not a pushover, to have control and not be bullied that inspired my character. She has evolved over the MANY years since school, as have all my characters and the worlds of my story; but Sylle remains at her core the person I always dreamed of being: strong, independent, intelligent, loved and admired, a leader.

That’s the thing about inspiration. It can come from so many different places, and it’s never just one thing that sparks our fire. Most often, it’s a combination of ourselves, our desires and hopes and dreams, and our experiences. Shakespeare created his famous play Romeo and Juliet from an extremely long poem that itself had been inspired by earlier Italian novellas and even ancient Roman tales. That’s the point. Inspiration is everywhere you look and in everything you see, read, feel, and do. It’s why I have so many journals filled with so many ideas. Maybe one day I’ll get to them all, but there are many, all the poems for starters, that are probably best left in those journals.

Embracing the Uncomfortable

Well, here we go. My first blog post. Yikes. Who would have thought I would ever be here? Writing on the internet about myself, my hopes, my thoughts, my writings. Actually, who’d have thought I ever would have published two books with the third due out next year and plenty ideas for more? That’s the interesting, terrifying, and fun thing about life—you truly never know what is right around the corner.

Since it is my first post, I should probably tell you a bit about myself beyond what you have seen on this page or in my bio on my books. The epithet on my homepage is correct. I am a teacher and an author. I’ve been teaching since 1995 (yes, I’m old) and a published author since 2024, but I’ve been writing and creating for as long as I can remember. Writing stories, really bad poems, memories, ideas. I have journals all through my desk at home with half-started ideas, outlines for new ideas, fully completed stories, and random horrid poems that I wrote when I was trying to channel my inner Emily Dickinson. Apparently, I don’t have one of those.

I’m an introvert who loves my space and recharges with a good book or writing journal, a glass of wine or cup of tea (depending on the time of day) sitting in a quiet place I’ve found for myself. I prefer that solitude to crowds and the overwhelming stress of the public, especially when I need to make a good impression or carry on a conversation with someone I don’t know. I’ve heard most authors are introverts, so I guess I’m in really good company. Strangely, my jobs in life have not been for those who don’t like to be social. I mean, I’m in a classroom for seven and a half hours a day with a large group of ever-changing teenagers or walking through halls filled with people during class changes. I’m always with people and many of those people sit in front of me, eyes staring me down, asking questions, answering mine, interacting with me nonstop, especially since Tennessee banned cell phones in the classroom. My middle school and high school selves would never believe I chose this job. I mean, I spent my entire life hiding in the background hoping no one would notice me and force me to interact. Teaching was not an idea for me, but ever since I stumbled upon this career and ended up in a classroom, I have loved it. And it doesn’t hurt that my students are pretty amazing in their own right.

Now, I’ve added author to my resume and it has been daunting. The things I never realized—the social media requirements, the interviews, the book signings. There’s so much more than just writing the words. One of my interviews is linked on this website and you’re welcome to watch it. It was with Daytime TriCities, who also interviewed me when my first book came out. Now that interview, I hope, has disappeared into a digital black hole. It was my first interview ever and I was so nervous I actually cried at one point. I left the studio and got to my car and couldn’t remember one thing I had said during the interview. I think I’ve gotten a little bit better since then. I, at least, feel more comfortable.

Maybe that’s the point of this post—embracing the uncomfortable, instead of always playing it safe. Safety is good, but stepping out of your comfort zone periodically can bring you experiences you never could have imagined.