Finding inspiration in household chores, falling in love with 'Outlander'
Today's featured authors: Christina Dodd, author of Virtue Falls, and JM Stewart, author of Risking It All. They're sharing writing inspirations and keeper books.
Christina Dodd, author of Virtue Falls
What inspires my writing?
Household chores.
As a sacrifice for my muse, I have stopped cleaning the house. So when I want to get up from the computer and do something un-writerly, I think, "But if I don't write, I'll have to load the dishwasher." Immediately, inspiration hits me and I'm writing again!
What inspired Virtue Falls? Two things:
• My editor challenged me.
She said, "Create a town that is in itself a character."
I said, "I'll build Virtue Falls, a small town on the isolated Olympic Peninsula where the investigation of an old unsolved murder raises the specter of a serial killer!"
She said, "Great idea!"
And I said, "I'll start the book with an earthquake!"
She wasn't just dismayed. She was horrified. But I started with the old adage, "Write what you know." Virtue Falls is a suspense set on the wild and tumultuous Pacific Coast of Washington state. Not coincidentally, I live in Washington and I wake up every morning to a panorama of our town, a lake, a mountain range and, if we walk to the end of the road, the Pacific Ocean. People in Washington brag about the views, but we all know we pay for this barrage of beauty by living on the edge of danger. Dramatic, yes, but volcanoes loom over every landscape, and earthquakes and tsunamis … happen. And in Virtue Falls, they definitely do happen.
When I presented my editor the plot, she agreed to give me the opportunity to create Virtue Falls.
• Serial killers.
I know what you're thinking, and you're right.
What does Christina Dodd personally know about serial killers?
Nothing, thank God, but serial killers fascinate and frighten us. They wear the friendly faces of our neighbors. They hunt us in our nightmares, and bring forth secrets that would be better left buried. At least … in Virtue Falls they do.
Here's the blurb about Virtue Falls:
Twenty-three years ago, in the isolated coastal town of Virtue Falls, Washington, 4-year-old Elizabeth Banner witnessed her mother's brutal murder. Elizabeth's father was convicted of killing Misty and sentenced to prison. Elizabeth was sent to live with relatives, and grew from a solitary child to a beautiful woman with a cool scientific mind and an instinctive distrust of love.
Now Elizabeth is back in Virtue Falls, a geologist like her father, living cautiously, her life guided by logic and facts. But nothing can help her through the emotional chaos that follows the return of her ex-husband, Garik Jacobsen, an FBI agent on probation and tortured by the guilt of his past deeds. Nor can it help her deal with her father, now stricken with Alzheimer's and haunted by Misty's ghost.
When a massive earthquake reveals long-concealed secrets, Elizabeth soon discovers her father is innocent. Is the killer still at large, stalking ever closer to the one witness to Misty's murder? To Elizabeth herself? Elizabeth and Garik investigate, stirring old dark and deadly resentments that could provoke another bloody murder — Elizabeth's own.
Find out more at christinadodd.com.
JM Stewart, author of Risking It All
Three books on my keeper shelf:
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. The author immerses me in every detail of the story, so that I feel like I'm there, living it. The hero, Jamie, is a hero in every way. He's not perfect. He's done bad things, but he'll do anything for the people he loves, including putting himself in harm's way to save the heroine, Claire. He gives her all of himself and asks nothing in return.
• Lover Awakened by JR Ward. For me, this one was all about the hero, Zsadist. He's a wounded hero, with a past that just breaks my heart. I'm an emotion kind of girl. When I read, I want to feel everything with them, and JR delves deeply into her characters. Gosh, I fell in love with Zsadist. Sigh.
• Those Violet Eyes by Vonnie Davis. The hero, Win Fairchild, is one I can't forget. He's a wounded war veteran who's lost part of a limb. Watching him struggle in the first chapter, coming home for the first time, really got to me. By the end, I was in tears, so invested in him that I needed him to find his happily-ever-after.
Here's the blurb for Risking It All (releasing Sept. 16):
She's everything he wants …
For years, Kyle Morgan has hidden his true feelings from the gorgeous girl next door he grew up loving and protecting. But when she shows up at his apartment in the middle of the night, desperately needing comfort and support, his iron will begins to waver …
… and the only thing he can't bear to lose.
Kyle was always the big brother Cecelia Anton never had, but suddenly her goofy best friend has become a sexy man she can't keep her thoughts—or hands—off of. As their deep connection melts into uncontrollable desire, Ceci is willing to put it all on the line for a shot at true love. Only Kyle is keeping a terrible secret about Ceci's past that could destroy not only their lifelong friendship but their happily-ever-after …
Find out more at authorjmstewart.com.