Aspiring author - part 6

Last week, I was on holiday in St Ives. I entered the holiday cottage, walked upstairs into the bathroom after our long journey and bang, stopped dead in my tracks on closing the door. I stood staring at a pristine white bathroom with a beautiful tile effect. Seriously, inspiration hits you when you least expect it! That was 'the moment'. The moment a seed was planted in my head and it began to grow due to the unexpected observation. I'm happy to share my tile picture below.

You might wonder why I'm sharing such a simple anecdote but the reason is: inspiration surrounds you day and night. You simply need to tap into the rich source of objects, people, buildings, art, nature, history and language which surrounds you. For me it can be something as small as a bathroom tile, a man waiting at a bus stop or an annual Christmas tree news report - just some 'seeds of inspiration' which have kick started my muse for previous books.

Two days after the bathroom tile find, I saw a single word - I'm not sharing that detail but the two 'finds' made a pairing in my head and by day four of my holiday I had a fully fledged premise for a book. Exactly the same thing happened to me last year whilst on holiday in Brixham resulting in my latest book 'New Beginnings At Rose Cottage'. It appears that day four of holidays might be a special day for me and my brain.

As a creative person, I am open to the world around me. I look at the world around me. I see the small detail, which given that I've had duff eyes all of my life means I have to look and observe just a little closer than most. Personally, I think my duff eyesight is an asset because I can't dart through life not looking properly at what is in front of me. I notice things that some others don't see, tiny details, gestures, expressions sometimes, big whopping details which others shouldn't be blind to but sadly, they are.

When I was an aspiring author, I think I wasted effort searching for 'hot' inspiration, making a tough job of it when really, now that I understand how my brain/observations work, I can relax and allow inspiration to be delivered to me in such unexpected finds.  

Note: when a seed of inspiration comes to me when I'm in the middle of a new book or know that I simply can't use it 'yet' - I note it down in a small book. I tend to date each entry so I can refer back to them when needed for planning an entirely new book or looking for inspirational kick-starts regards plotting. 

​I will start a proper blog about my new project but let's just say in one week I've written 20% of a new book (whoops, I was supposed to be on holiday). Anyway, the words are simply flowing faster than my fingers can keep up - long may that continue!