Inspiration

When C.S. Lewis was trying to describe how he got his inspiration for The Chronicles of Narnia, he wrote, "It all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy woodland. This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: 'Let's try to make a story about it.'" (You can read more of what he said here.) We all know what happened next, and some delightful stories were born.

Just like Mr. Lewis, I'm often not sure where my inspiration comes from. Sometimes it's another story, a song, a random Scripture verse, and yes, even pictures.

I didn't really know until I had finished writing the first draft of "The Book of Dreams' where it had come from, and even now I'm not completely sure. Maybe it was the book from the BBC Voyage of the Dawn Treader that had caught my fancy years ago or my fascination with Caspian's half-dwarf tutor. Maybe it was listening to an audio drama of "At the Back of the North Wind", reading "The Weight of Glory", or listening to Andrew Peterson music that filled me with a longing for heaven. Or maybe it was just my own random thought: "What if you were chosen to have an adventure?" 

This story has been one of the easiest for me to write. The words, especially the description, just seemed to flow into the keys of the computer. I felt almost like Handel frantically writing the Messiah. Although my siblings keep begging me to let "Letters for Victory" be published next, I've decided that it must be "The Book of Dreams". It's a story that I love and can't wait to share.

I will admit to you, that not all of my inspiration has been this glorified or extraordinary. Most of it comes from everyday life and interactions with my creative and amazing family. ; ) When I was describing Grandma Rowena, I pictured her as Grandma Nutt from the board game Candyland. ; ) Cool, right? (Cinnamon doesn't quite look like her peanut dog.)

I think some of my characters would protest if they knew their origins. So, dear Sir Larkin, Drewin and Ryla, Byron, Sienna, and everyone else please stop reading this post if you won't be able to handle it. ; ) I'm about to confess.

• Sir Larkin--your name was originally a girl's name I heard at the Homeschooled Authors' book table in 2014. Very sorry, but I thought with the medieval twist it would work. Will you forgive me?
• Drewin and Ryla--your names themselves are made up because I had run completely out of medieval names since I've overused the time period/genre. But I have an ever bigger confession to make. The name of your story (The Twin Arrows) is actual the name of a local casino. I didn't know where I had picked it up until I was idly reading the billboards on our way somewhere. I'm reclaiming it though. It's mine, and it's ours.
• Byron--yes, I know I haven't visited your story in a while. I'm stuck. But your name was an awesome inspiration. I've read it almost every day of my life, and it was such a part of me that I didn't know it was the brand name on the tag of my teddy bear. He is very noble and unique, though; so you shouldn't be ashamed to be named after him. (And it's really not as bad as the random Pony Express rider who was named after my pencil case...)
• Sienna--hello, again. I want another story for you, but we'll have to get to that sometime. I believe you are named after a local resort from yet another billboard. It's a beautiful name nonetheless, and I love it. ; )
• Fiddler--I love you so much that I couldn't find a name good enough for you (and Edward already got a story, so I can't use that again); so that 's the real reason you don't have one. There's no geeky or cool reason for the "secret" except lack of inspiration and fear of ruining your awesomeness. (I don't think Isolde minds.)
• Percy--you are so cool that I'm sorry you got that name. Only thing I could think of when you needed one. (At least you aren't stuck without one like "Mr. Strathmore's boy" or "the half-grown boy with the half-grown voice"...) And by the way, if you end up in a second story, you just got ten times cooler. I was reading the Arthurian tales the other day and crying over Sir Perceval's coming to Camelot. Your name is now short for Perceval. ; )
• Isolde--you're name is also from the Arthurian tales, but hopefully your story won't be as tragic as Tristan and Yseult's. It's beautiful nonetheless, and I'm really not ashamed of it all. (You're sister Ariel is from one of Jerusalem's alternate names and the name of the sprite from The Tempest. I heard somewhere that they were naming people during the 1860s from the Bible and classics, so... And Shallia was completely from my own head.)

So it ranges from everything from billboards to Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis to teddy bears, and everything else in between. Sometimes with stories like "The Book of Dreams", I feel as if I am writing something beautiful and amazing that will bless many people and bring them closer to God. Other times I feel as if I am writing a collection of random ideas that is just a cheesy remake of The Princess Bride. And then I remember that, as long as I am writing for God, He will make something out of it that I could never have imagined being possible. He will use my crazy stories to change a life, even if it is only my own. So I keep writing. ; )

I've recently started using Pinterest to help with inspiration. I have boards for "The Book of Dreams", "Letters for Victory", "Fiddler's Bargain", "Awake", and another story currently (and boringly) known as "Kiera". I try to keep my boards God-honoring and kosher, but please use the site in general with caution. (Same warning as I give for YouTube.) And please note that there might be spoilers. ; ) 

Discovering, Breathing, Enjoying, and So On...

Yes, I have been extremely busy! You can just look at our church calendar and see at a glance 2/3s of what is filling our time. Add to that birthdays, celebrations, social events, and family ministry--wow!

Today's blog post is going to be a little different. So many awesome things have happened that I'm going to just share a few pictures of some of my favorite experiences. ; )

We celebrated Chum's birthday by feeding "eatmeal" to ducks at the park. He had a ton of fun!!

Chap and Uncle Paul watching the ducks.

Love that sweet smile!!!

Yeah, this is what I mostly did. ; )

On that same day, Pearl and I discovered our first Little Free Library! We had the back of our van full of rejected stock for our used book business, so we decided to take the time to fill the library with an assortment of books. It was so much fun, and we can't wait to do it again! ; )

Our evenings have been mostly occupied by church Bible studies. It's been a really good time of learning and fellowship! Mom, Aimee, Anna, and I are also going through the Botkin's Reclaiming Beauty study with some friends of ours and their homeschool group. We just had our third session today, and it's been really good so far.

Anna and I spent a huge chunk of one day decorating the backs of our notebooks with things we love. (Mine is on the left and hers is on the right.) ; ) It was a great sister togetherness time, and we were sad when the project ended. ; )

What else have I been doing? Well, living, experimenting (more on that later), discovering (love this creative community!), editing ("Mara"), breathing (glad to hear it, aren't you?), cleaning, studying (real Mount Sinai!!!), enjoying, loving, and learning (the Levites were presented to God as a "living sacrifice" just like we are to be!). 

Oh, and um... stories... Perry Elisabeth is hosting a short story contest!!! I'm so excited, and I can't wait to start on my submission. Also, if you go to my page on Noble Novels, you'll find the fifth part of "The Twin Arrows". (The suspense is building!!)

It's been an awesomely blessed week and a half! How was yours?

Story Excerpt: Wildflowers

A scene from my story "Mara"...
          

Other days, they did have “interesting subjects” that Sienna knew something about and could enjoy a little more. Still Mara's attitude was a mystery, and she found herself admiring her new teacher while watching her carefully for any slight sign of fault.

            “I say, Mara, the fields are just full of wildflowers. In fact, they are trying to take over the whole wheat field, and Father and Mr. Rhames are fighting hard to keep them out,” Jesse said breathlessly one afternoon as he appeared during their lessons. He had been busily working on his own that morning but had taken a break to bring lunch to the laborers.

            “What kind?” Sienna was first to speak, and everyone was surprised.

            “Foxglove, daisy, ferns, and all sorts of them. I brought you all some since you are stuck up here,” Jesse replied and held out his little bouquet with some pride.

            Mara took the flowers appreciatively and arranged them in a vase he had fetched for her from the kitchen. “There, that’s lovely. Thank you, Jesse.”

            The little boy smiled and ducked inside the house to finish his own work. Mara watched him go then turned back to Sienna who was idly stroking one of the foxglove petals.

            “These flowers are just like the ones that grow in mother’s flower boxes. People said she was strange to grow wildflowers, but she always replied that they reminded her of the mountains she came from.” There was a faraway look in the girl’s eyes, and a small smile played about her lips making her face look almost beautiful. “Should we press those?”

            Mara looked up awakened from her musing. “Sure, if you step inside into the dining room and ask Jesse for the flower press, he’ll get it for you. He is a gentleman even if he doesn’t look like one.”

            Sienna laughed and turned to go into the house. She emerged a little while later with the flower press, and they set to work pressing the tiny blossoms. After a time, they both fell silent before Mara ventured to say, “What was your mother like?”

            “She was beautiful. Her hair was just as dark as mine, but her skin was as light as yours—no, lighter. Her eyes were always sparkling and snapping, and she used to laugh merrily whenever Father made a joke. They would ask me to play the piano--that was back when we had one, but I couldn’t play very well anyway--and they would dance together all about our little house. She was always singing it seemed. She was no lightweight either but was right there to help Father when he lost his job. She even took in washing and stayed up into the hours of the next morning.” Sienna spoke with as much reverence of her mother as others would talk about a queen.

            “She sounds wonderful,” Mara replied after a while, not daring to break the happy, wistful mood that had come upon the girl. Something in Sienna’s face changed suddenly, and Mara knew that she was thinking about her mother’s untimely death.

            “Yes, she was,” the younger girl said in a hard, even voice that signified she was unwilling to say anymore.

Would you like to read more?

My World of Words

Last June, I had the amazing privilege of publishing my first book The Treasure Hunt. Since then I have finished the first drafts of three more stories I hope to publish in the near future.

First there was "The Book of Dreams". This is one of my stories that just thrills my heart more than all the others. It is based on all the concepts I have ever learned or loved from C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle and his essay "The Weight of Glory", Andrew Peterson's poetic songs, and a bit from George MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind. This is when I first discovered the power of setting the mood with a little description. I started with a small concept and then let my mind run wild with the possibilities.

From the beginning...

Now she sat in the front room with her own book in her hands. The firelight danced on the walls and caused her hair to shine golden. A little table separated her chair from the one belonging to the Keeper of Dreams, but he was near enough to watch her closely as she read. And watch her closely he did. From the first moment she had opened the golden pages, his eyes never moved; but his smiled deepened.

             After admiring the cover for a long while, she finally flipped open the book and fingered the first page as she read the words written in golden script. Here and there throughout the book there were pictures and her smile would grow as she murmured pleasantly, “Yes, that is how I remember it.”

            The shadows grew and still Lindsay read. As she looked at all her dreams from the time she was a baby until the very night before, she realized that they all wove together into one big dream. The Keeper of Dreams still smiled on her and watched as she read on, caught up into the story.

            All before she wanted it to the book ended, and she closed it with a happy sigh. When she looked up she saw that the Keeper of Dreams had been watching her and she said politely, “Thank you very much for letting me read this and especially for recording it all.”

            He smiled and took the book from her outstretched hands then showed her to the door. The spring day was as lovely as when she had come to his house, but now it seemed all the more beautiful. The sky was a clear blue dotted with puffy white clouds, and a slight breeze blew across the flowers making them dance together. There were ever so many colors to look at as she walked home: greens, and blues, and every shade of pink imaginable. The apple and the pear blossoms rained down about her onto the path, and each thing her eyes lighted on reminded her of something she had seen in one of her dreams.

After that I worked on a story called "Letters for Victory" a mixture of my own experiences of home life and fictional story set during World War II. It was a lot of fun to write and (at that point) my longest story yet. I loved the story so much that instead of doing a typical epilogue narrating everything in 50 or so words, I wrote a (really long!!) bonus chapter to give myself a chance to say "goodbye" to the characters. : )

Here's a snippet...
“So you think we should write to him,” Jake stated with excitement written all over his face.

            “Exactly! I asked mother and she said we could as long as we pay the postage and let her look over the letters first. This all depends of course, on if Tommy wants to be pen-pals,” Kathryn answered in a business-like tone.

            “Let’s do it!” Jake replied, jumping up from the couch.

            “Can I draw the pictures?” Hanna asked.

            “Yes, dear,” her older sister said and was rewarded with a toothy smile.

            “Kathryn should be the ‘editor’,” Jake offered, taking a huge bite of his apple at the exact moment that everyone looked at him.

            “What do you think, Avery?” Kathryn said and they all turned to look at him.

            Ever the practical one, Avery stroked his chin and said, “And how will we pay for the postage?”

            Kathryn answered by reaching up and taking their general piggy bank off the mantle and emptying it onto the floor. “There’s enough here to send a few letters and then we’ll have to figure out some way to make money,” she pronounced.

            “Then I’m all for it,” Avery replied, with vigor.

            And so they decided to write the letter. After several minutes of haggling, crossing out, and rewriting Kathryn was ready to read the finished project aloud.

            “Dear Tommy,

            We are the Moorbank children—Kathryn (14), Avery (12 ½), Jake (8), and Hanna (4). We live on Currant Street in Willoughby Village with our mother and older sister who is married to a soldier, Peter Kilroy. We have a nice big house with rose bushes that bloom pink when they do. We also have the best tree house in the neighborhood that we love to play in. We can’t play in it right now since it is raining so much, but we have grand times during the summer. In autumn and winter we play in the living room. That's where we're writing this letter from now.

            We were wondering if you want to be pen-pals. We are quite sure we can think of plenty of interesting things to tell you, though you should have some things to say too. Don't worry about postage, we have it all figured out.

            Enclosed is a photograph of us all and Avery would like you to know that he has grown a whole inch since that was taken so Kathryn isn't really so much taller than him. Kathryn says that doesn't matter much. Jake would like to know what war is like. Hanna says that if you will pretend to be her big brother she will send you a piece of her candy on Christmas.

            Please write back as soon as possible, though we will be patient since you are probably busy. Goodbye now, we have to go snap green beans.

             Sincerely,

            Your Friends"

After that I started a story called "Mara". It was once again a mixture of lessons from my life and story I came up with. Wonderful experience, and I was so excited to finish it last December (in the midst of moving and Christmas). It's my longest story ever, but I hope to break that record someday once I get over my writer's block. : )

An excerpt for ya'...
Sienna stood near her father with her hands clasped around the handle of a small brown satchel. Her thick black hair was parted in the middle and pulled back from her face by a dull colored ribbon. Her dress was a sort of golden brown that would have been nice if it had been paired with another color, but the fact that it was too big and too brown made her look almost swallowed up by it. The only thing interesting about her were her eyes. They were dark brown and very big and stared at Mara with admiration and contempt.

            Mara was reclining on the low-backed couch with a white crocheted afghan tucked around her. Her dress and her cheeks were the color of the roses on the table beside her, and her eyes held a bright sparkle of welcome for the timid young girl that stood in front of her. Beckoning, so she would not disturb her parents’ and Mr. Rhames’ conversation, she smiled at her new student and prayed that they would get along.

            “Just like a queen,” Sienna thought as she studied her new teacher and her thought was seemingly rationalized by Mara’s kind beckoning. “I wonder if she can actually teach. She looks as if she had never worked a day in her life.” Sienna’s mind sped on in this disagreeable fashion, but she made her feet walk towards the young woman.

            Mara tucked a pile of letters that had occupied the footstool into a basket nearby, and said, “There, would you like to sit down? We have so much getting acquainted to do.”

            Sienna sat down stiffly on the footstool but turned her face in undisguised interest to the speaker. The frank, welcoming words spoke somehow into the lonely girl’s heart and softened it a little.

            “So, you are Sienna. I’m Mara (it’s said like mare with an ‘a’ on the end), and I am so excited to get to be your teacher,” Mara said smiling and tucking her light brown hair behind her ear.

 

 

So which story do you think sounds the most interesting?

Renewed

Before we moved to the Northwest, someone who had been here before told us, "You see more shades of green than you ever knew existed." He was right. I am so thankful that I can look out our dining room windows on a lush, awakened world. For some strange reason I always expect the scene I am looking at to be like a flat picture; but instead I am pleased to find the 3d essence of the pine trees, and somehow I feel as if it is more real than it actually is. Sounds weird, I know, but I'm thankful for it and so many other things besides.

I'm thankful for...

• The family of God. Last Sunday, we gathered together for a church picnic and the crowd of forty people was drawn together closer than ever.
• The hilarious, insightful, and memorable devotional one of the men from our church led. It involved inflating balloons. One of my best friends and I were sitting near him when he popped one. You can imagine our reactions. 'Nuf said. : )
• The fact that my mocha brownie mess-up wasn't so much of a mess-up, but instead it just became mocha cake.
• Our window air-conditioners. They have done such an amazing job that we hardly noticed when the temperature hit 100 degrees one day.
• Ripening apples! They are so red that it is delightful to look at them.
• The e-book our oldest sister gifted us with. It's Firmament: In His Image by J. Grace Pennington. It's her best book yet, and sooo interesting!
• Stories. I'm officially working on one right now, but the others are begging me to give them some more thought. (Mara, here I come!)
• Bananas and chocolate chips. (Get the recipe from my post last November called "Banana?")
• The power of prayer. What was lost has now been found!
• My brother's latest board game creation—the settling game! We read about Settlers of Catan and decided to make our own version (at least for now). : ) It truly is a lot of fun. He won with about 10,000 more people than I had.
• Our terrific thunderstorm!!!! It was probably the third one we've had in six years and the best so far! It was so close that we could hear the crackle and pop in the thunder and watch the lightning split the sky! Brings back fond memories of Southwest electrical storms. : )
• The other great thing about the storm was the rain! We've needed it so badly, and now everything is greatly renewed.
• The big picnic this Saturday! There are lots of people I am looking forward to seeing including my pen-pal whom I've only seen two times in the last year. : )
• Music! Lord willing our family will be singing a song at the picnic. So fun!
• Deviled eggs. Imagine our delight and surprise over a double-yolk deviled egg! My youngest sister was cooking with me, and she was pretty cute rolling eggs to peel them.
• The animated short Burn.E. Uh, yeah, it isn't high literature, but now every time I hear "The Ode to Joy" I hum it just like he does. : )
• A clean house for the Axis and Allies party and weekend visitors.
• Giving my littlest sister a lesson in military time. My watch battery is about five years old so it's stuck in that mode plus it's running eight minutes late. She's still managing to keep track of the time though and looking forward to the coming of our guests! : )
• Old sheet music. I was organizing all the music inside our piano bench, and it struck me how blessed we are to have 3 years worth of chorale music. : )
• Letters and emails to answer! It's been so much fun to get to know these special people.
• The way that the bright red pencil I am using matches my bright red, picnic themed stationery.
• God giving me a clear philosophy of beauty at 10 o'clock at night.
• Family music practice. : )
• The funny thing that happens if you compare my relatives to movie stars/characters. Audrey Hepburn and Captain America are the parents of Charlie Brown and Russell (from Up). My brother is Gregory Peck and my older sister is Keisha Castle-Hughes (from The Nativity Story). Wow, that's fun! Maybe I'm Dori (from Finding Nemo). : )
• God, Who has loved us just as we are; but is not content to leave us that way. Instead He is renewing us day by day and conforming us to the image of His Son.