Tuesday Guest Post: Barbara Monajem

Title: Inspiration has a will of its own

A few days ago, I returned from a trip to Europe. I write both paranormal and historical romances, and needless to say I found plenty of opportunities for research. Some of it was standard stuff: there were swans on the Thames at Richmond (which is near London) just as there were when Henry I lived in a manor close by, and when the last of the Henrys (so far) went around beheading wives. Since I now know what the Thames and the swans look like in Richmond, I want to set a scene in a historical there, because having been there makes a place seem far more real when I’m writing about it. In Bordeaux, France, I learned to my delight that I was in Aquitaine, from which the redoubtable Eleanor hailed. Who wouldn’t want to put her in a book? In Germany, I didn’t get to see a fabulous Bavarian baroque church because (would you believe it?) they were doing woodworm repairs, but pictures of the interior made me long to write something that takes place in the early 1700s, because baroque is so deliciously decadent – perfect for either a regular historical or a vampire story.

But when it came right down to it, what inspired me most was stuff I’m not writing about right now. Stuff I don’t even have plans for yet. But inspiration whisks one where it wills, and what got me most excited was… first of all, a stork. This was at a bird sanctuary near Bordeaux. I’d never seen a stork before. My God, what a huge bird! No wonder they deliver babies. Their nests would fit a dozen babies, with room to spare. The nest in the picture is on top of a stand built specifically for storks to nest on, but they often nest on the roofs of buildings such as churches. I couldn’t help but imagine a middle-grade or even a young adult novel where a stork plays a major role. Not in the cards at the moment, though…

In Germany, we stayed with relatives, and what got to me was their garden. I’ve been there before, and the garden has always felt a bit enchanted, but this time the King of the Fairies had taken up residence in the form of a rangy white cat with ice-colored eyes. Here’s a picture of him. Don’t be fooled by the garden hose. He wants to pretend, to most ordinary mortals, that he’s just a standard cat. Therefore, he wouldn’t let me get what I really needed – a picture of his reflection in one of the gorgeous glass balls with which the garden is sprinkled – because his reflection shows what he really looks like.

I guess I’ll have to use my imagination for that one, since he pretty much ordered me to write his story. How can I possibly say no? But, but, but… I’m not the sort of person who writes six books a year or three at a time, and I have other plans… 

Which path do you choose to follow when inspiration goes awry? The planned one, somewhat familiar but for which the inspiration may have to be dug up, sometimes dragged? The unexpected, exciting and possibly disastrous? Something in between?

 Barbara Monajem's Tastes of Love and Evil, the second in the Bayou Gavotte series, is currently available from Amazon.