Authors Inspired!

Where do authors of various genres get their ideas? 

Today’s blog highlights wonderful authors whose ideas for their novels began with a memorable experience.  Read on and discover how a spark of inspiration becomes a novel!

My first guest, Kathryn Orzech, tells us about her novel, ASYLUM, a dark suspense saga.

Drawn to the time of 1880s to 1910, my first apartment in a Victorian mansion featured elegant banisters, pocket doors, a marble fireplace, stained glass windows, and a servant ghost who stood behind me to welcome guests. Then at a friend's dinner party near Mark Twain's Hartford home, a woman who worked in an 1800s building, once a noted asylum, claimed to have seen a ghost in the hallway outside her upper floor office—and ASYLUM was born.

Kathryn, ASYLUM sounds so intriguing, and what a great cover.  You’ve drawn me right into the story. Check out Kathryn’s sites and buy link to learn more about her books.
Paperback: Asylum: A Dark Suspense Saga
by Kathryn Orzech
Link: http://amzn.com/B00L9I49Q8

 E-book at most online booksellers.
Website:  http://www.dreamwatch.com/KO-Books/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KathrynO.author

My next guest is Laurie Gifford Adams.  Her earlier novel, Finding Atticus, is one of my favorite YA novels. Here Laurie tells us about what inspired her newest novel, Over the Edge.

 

For Over the Edge, a YA novel, I was inspired to write about the themes of bullying, disabilities (in particular in this book, autism) and service/assistance dogs because of interactions I saw among my middle grade students. I wanted readers to have a little more understanding about autism and the fact that these kids want acceptance, too. I also wanted to highlight the different forms bullying can take. I included romance and adventure to get the attention of girls and boys.

Two important topics,  Laurie. This novel belongs in every school libraries. Learn more about Over the Edge  on these web links.

Laurie’s website:

www.lauriegiffordadams.com

Buy link:   Over the Edge
by Laurie Gifford Adams
Link: http://amzn.com/0990464709

What inspires a contemporary thriller? 

 Meet Author Maggie Van Well.  Maggie’s husband had a hand in the inspiration for her novel, Ruby’s Letters.

“My husband owns a fireplace and chimney restoration company. One day he took me to an old brownstone in Harlem where he was working on the kitchen fireplace. I said to him, "wow, this is huge!" and he replied, "Yeah, I know. Big enough to bury a body in.””

Boom! There was my inspiration for Ruby's Letters.

Learn more about Maggie Van Well and her novels on these sites:

My website is www.maggievanwell.com

Maggie Van Well~~Love and Laugh on Long Island
Ruby's Letters ~ A ghostly romance out NOW!
Crazy Little Thing Called Matchmaking~out NOW!!!

My next guest is Author and Artist Gail Ingis.
Gail, what was your inspiration for writing Indigo Sky? 

My novel, Indigo Sky, release date, October 21, 2015, was inspired by a 19th century painting and the artist Albert Bierstadt’s journey to Yosemite. Albert Bierstadt, 19th-century artist in 1863, traveled with his writer friend to Yosemite to journal and sketch scenes to paint in his New York studio. The painting, Domes of Yosemite, that once hung in Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk, Connecticut, intrigued me. Upon researching the painting, I found that Bierstadt's friend's wife became his lover.  Hence, a story of romance and mystery.

Gail's website:     http://www.gailingis.com. 

Be sure to check out Gail's website and read an excerpt of Indigo Sky and see her artwork.   Gail. I look forward to your launch date!   

Carole Ann Moleti tells us how she found inspiration for her series, The Unfinished Business. 

While opening up a summer cottage, pulling dustcovers off furniture and vacuuming up flies, I had the sudden inspiration to write a story about a woman who finds a trunk of old clothes and learns sad truths about the person who they once belonged to. It was a quick hop from that to a ghost story—and from barbecues and parades over the Fourth of July weekend in upstate New York immersion in a paranormal fantasy set on Cape Cod. The series combines my love of the beach and boats with a fascination about paranormal activities, and how past life experiences my influence our fears, fantasies, and choices. 

Visit Carole's Website at

 http://www.caroleannmoleti.com/the-unfinished-business-series/    

On Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/caroleannmoleti 

Buy link  http://www.amazon.com/Widows-Walk-Carole-Ann-Moleti-ebook/dp/B00PHYCLHY

Before I close, I'd like to mention the inspiration for my newest manuscript, Journal of Narcissa Dunn. 

On a walk through a local cemetery years ago, I came across a gravestone from 1808. The epitaph carved crudely into the stone was of an eighteen year old girl, Narcissa.  Part of the epitaph read,          
                                 "... this stone shall move 
                                  the Saint shall rise
What was so profound was the stone had moved. Large roots of a tree nearby grew beneath it and disturbed the stone, moving it on an awkward tilt. Natural phenomena or not, it enthralled me. I took a picture of the stone and promised that one day I would write a novel about Narcissa. Three novels later, I began my version of her story.   
 

News will come later of the release date for Journal of Narcissa Dunn!   
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Find my books at 

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008H5NKQQ

  

I want to thank the authors who contributed today. I wish all of you many sales and happy readers.  Readers, I hope you enjoyed hearing about the many ways authors' ideas germinate and create wonderful stories.  I love to hear comments from readers.                     ~Elaine