Inspiration, a guest post by Jamie White

Inspiration comes from all kinds of places, and my stories are proof of that. Almost everything I’ve published has been inspired by something different. Take my first book, The Life and Times of No One in Particular.

That one was written in 2011, but the inspiration for it came from a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Role Play Game I was in. We were all struggling to come up with new stuff to do, and we started blaming our problems on evil muses that are indifferent to our struggles. Well, when I sat down to write my first short story, I thought about that muse character I’d created in response to our muse problems. I wondered what she might think about our cursing them out, and it went from there. It finally turned into a whole book.

My story in the Lyrical Muse Anthology was inspired by a Carrie Underwood song, “Two Black Cadillacs,” while my holiday-themed Clutter was inspired by a submission call looking for holiday-themed stories and the series 24. Yes, it’s a weird combination. Basically, I decided to follow a person trying to fulfill their goals before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

The strangest source of inspiration involves my Stains trilogy. I’ve had a lot of prescient dreams and some past life readings that ended up helping to shape that story. The main inspiration was a dream about a magical world that inspired the image of a woman burning at the stake. That image struck me, so I sat down to write the scene and the rest just flowed from there.

The bottom line is, you never know when (or if) the inspiration will hit. That’s why it’s important to be open and willing to take inspiration from some odd places. It could lead you somewhere great.

Website: http://www.jamiebmusings.webs.com/
Twitter: @JamieWAuthor
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