posted on December 4, 2013 by A. S. Fenichel

Finding Inspiration in the Darnedest Places (Like Twitter)

revvinguptheholidays_msrI’ve noticed that a lot of readers are interested in inspiration. That is they want to know where a writer gets the idea for a story. I’m so happy to be back on Writerspace to talk about my sexy holiday release, REVVING UP THE HOLIDAYS and where that muse came from.

In general, with the early spring comes a call from the publishers for holiday books. Not exactly the time of year that most people are thinking about Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza, but for many writers this is when they will need to get into the spirit and get scribbling those novellas. We all love sweet, short, get-us-in-the-holiday-mood stories. I love them too. I wrote one last year, and I had no plans to write another this year. Not because I love them any less, I just didn’t have a story in mind for the holidays.

Most of the time, I get new plot nuggets from dreams or a series of everyday events that I think, Hmm that would be an interesting first chapter. But I always keep an eye out for the muse. She’s tricky and can strike when you least expect her. For example, REVVING UP THE HOLIDAYS came to me while I was on Twitter and a group of writers were tweeting about the new calls for holiday stories. Many of them were erotic romance authors and were planning sexy Christmas books for the November releases.

During the course of the chat, someone said there could never be an erotic romance based around a Jewish holiday. She said it wouldn’t work. Up until this point, I was only half paying attention, but that got my attention. I said, it could be done and immediately, poor, troubled Isaac dropped into my head as the hero. Hanukkah was the perfect catalyst for getting him back to his hometown and the girl who got away.

Giada came to me a few days later. She’d lost her way in life and Christmas no longer held any appeal for her. It was going to take a few miracles to get these two together by Christmas.

A few weeks later I had this wonderful novella written and submitted to my editor at Ellora’s Cave. REVVING UP THE HOLIDAYS is a very steamy erotic romance about two people who’ve lost their holiday spirit. It’s also about loss, family and of course love. I hope you’ll all find it as touching and inspiring as I do. Happy Holidays!!

asfenichel.net  

A. S. Fenichel

A. S. Fenichel

A.S. Fenichel gave up a successful career in New York City to follow her husband to Texas and pursue her lifelong dream of being a professional writer. She's never looked back.

A.S. adores writing stories filled with love, passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure. Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into one and staying up all night to finish a good story.

Multi-published in erotic, contemporary and historical romance, A.S. is the author of the Mayan Destiny series, Christmas Bliss and many more. With several books currently contracted to multiple publishers, A.S. will be brining you her brand of romance for many years to come.

Originally from New York, she grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in the East Texas with her real life hero, her wonderful husband. When not reading or writing she enjoys cooking, travel, history, and puttering in her garden.

http://www.asfenichel.net

3 thoughts on “Finding Inspiration in the Darnedest Places (Like Twitter)”

  1. I love your thoughts and questions so leave them here and I’ll be sure to respond.

  2. Lisa says:

    I’m always fascinated b all the different ways in which my fellow writers find inspiration and get their creative juices flowing; no two writers are alike in that respect. For me, it’s usually dreams, driving and music; often driving and music at the same time (but not dreams, too, obviously!) During my conscious hours, I tend to “overthink” things and not just let my creativity flow to see where it will take me, so I will often dream ideas and even entire stories since, in dreams, there are no “barriers” and our creativity kicks the cautious conscious out the door.

    Living in a rural plains state, where a 100-mile drive to get needed supplies or clothes or services is considered a “minor jaunt” and no big deal, I drive a LOT and I love it, especially on the wide-open prairie that stretches endlessly and that gives you a similar endless feeling about possibilities and bright futures. I will play music while driving and often ideas and sometimes even entire stories and dialogues will begin to play out in my mind. I keep a digital recorder in my purse for that reason, since I learned the hard way that I can’t entirely trust my memory to remember every little thing I’ve come up with over the course of the drive.

    I began making up stories to music I was playing over forty years ago, when I was a young child; I use to love it when my parents left the house, especially for an evening, because I could play my music and act out whatever I thought of at the time. It wasn’t until several years ago, in my early forties, when I moved from an eastern state to a rural plains state that I combined the music with the driving when it comes to creativity.

    1. That’s wonderful, Lisa. Each of us had our own way of finding the muse and trying to keep her with us. I’ve used the record ap on my phone many times to remember a little snippet for later use. 🙂

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