I recently picked up Burning Skies, the second book in the Ascension series by Caris Roane (absolutely loved the first book!). The first chapter totally blew my mind. Wonderfully inventive, so out of the norm from what you usually read and I couldn’t help asking myself “How did she think of that?”
Did something inspire her? Did she see something on the highway as she was driving that sparked her imagination? Did she close her eyes while she was at the keyboard and it just came to her? Does she have a muse who sits on her shoulder and whispers in her ear? Or a character so close to her heart that he talks to her (ask any author – it’s not unusual for them to hear voices in their heads)?
I ask myself these questions a lot. There are some fabulous story arcs out there, some wild and crazy ideas that surprise and pique one’s interest, some very interesting circumstances characters find themselves in. Wherever these ideas come from (whether muse or mysterious voice), I’m so glad they do.
Because isn’t that one of the reasons we read? To be surprised by the author?
Happy Reading!
Marie
As Shakespeare might say, "A twist of the words is a mystery to the reader/and the twist the author unfolds."
ReplyDeleteI made that up, but can't you tell I'm reading about Shakespeare right now? An interesting thing I noticed, is that if you know a bit of an author's background it will give you a clue as to where some of the ideas came from.
Fortunately, that won't tell you everything because as you say it's great to be surprised when reading!