What's Inspiring Your Work?

I have wanted to write a fantasy novel since I was in third grade. At that time I had a writing partner named Jennifer (who was a year older and much more tough and sophisticated than I, and wasn't afraid of dodge ball), and we had a wonderful time creating our magical world. Our protagonists were deer, I believe, and we were greatly inspired by our teaching having read "The Hobbit" to us. We never wrote very much of the actual story (it was quite an epic), but we did create art work for it, and have a wonderful time discussing the characters and plot lines.

In High School I went so far as to buy a special journal for the next fantasy novel I wanted to undertake. It was called "The Bird" and my heroine's name was "Avis." I mapped out quite a bit of the story and wrote scenes but that effort stalled as I was more consumed by my parent's ever more dramatic relationship, school, and yep, boys.

Still the thought of one day writing a fantasy novel has lived carefully at the back of my mind, waiting for the right time to flourish.

Finally a few "perfect storm" scenarios came together to begin setting up the right framework. The first was that I heard the "Lord of the Rings" movies were being made so I read the books. My last attempt had been in something like fifth grade and I hadn't done so well after "The Hobbit." But this time I enjoyed them thoroughly and was thrilled with the movies (except for the sad decision to cut out Faramir and Eowyn's wonderful romance). During the same time I was also becoming an avid fan of Harry Potter, and that led me to the realization that there was now a plethora of fantastic fantasy novels for young adults unlike when I was young - when we had LOTR, "The Sword of Shanara" and that was about it (I'm exagerating, but not much, and I loved them so I'm not complaining about them being choices at all). Over the past decade I've had the great joy of discovering Tamora Pierce, Holly Black, Orson Scott Card, O.R. Melling, Sharon Hale, Cassandra Claire, Melissa Marr, Sherwood Smith and many many more.

And every time I've read something that I loved, that made my heart sing, I've thought "I can do this. I have something to share. I want to make a girl feel as inspired and happy and exuberant as I feel right now reading this by reading something I've written."

Or it can be a full-grown woman, I'm not picky, heck it can even be a guy.

Last year I finally began to seriously map out a plot and two characters who I'd been chewing over, a girl and a boy. I gave them names. I decided what they looked liked. I gave them friends with their own distinct characteristics, and I came up with a pretty darn serious and far reaching plot that would need at least two books.

This is the year I'm vowing to complete the first book. I've even joined a writer's group!

But of late I've stepped back a bit and have been looking at my characters and my plot and realizing that the theme is bigger than I'd originally intended, and that the themes are universal - passion for good and for evil, prejudice, the subjugation of women and slavery. I've taken on very serious subjects indeed! But so do all of the fantasy books that I adore so much (whether they are for youth or adults). That is the secret of sci-fi and fantasy that many people just don't understand, like the fairy tales in the days of old, they allow us to digest and deal with difficult and challenging topics in our own modern world in very dynamic ways, by setting themselves up in strange different worlds.

The Harry Potter books are about many things, but above all they're about the amazing power of love. If you haven't had the time to watch J.K. Rowling's speech at Harvard in 2008 on the "Fringe Benefits of Failure" I hope you'll click here and hear about her own journey to becoming a writer, and how failure can be a good friend. She so inspires me.

I also adored this talk by the enchanting author Isabel Allende who spoke at TED in 2007 on "Passion." TED roles into Long Beach tomorrow and I am so excited to see who will be inspiring me next!

So my question is, who and what is inspiring you?