WHAT INSPIRES MY BOOKS?
A Nantucket Christmas was inspired by dogs.
Here’s Kiska, with her personal shopper and fashion designer Tina. They were at the Christmas Stroll Saturday. I love Kiska so much (I like Tina a lot, too) that I brought Kiska some treats. (I don’t think Tina wanted any Pupperonis.)
An Island Christmas was inspired by cats.
I must include Josh and David’s cats, Agadore and Aarka. When I visit Josh and David, I become a living hot water bottle. This is pretty much like the final scene and sentence in An Island Christmas. And yes, that is chocolate in my hand.
Most of all, I’m inspired by my readers. To write a book of 350 pages, I write a least 1000 pages, and fill notebooks with research and ideas, time lines and plot details and scribbles that confuse me even though I wrote them. That means I spend a great deal of time in my study, alone, writing. Conversing, you could say, with invisible people. So when I speak at a library or attend a booksigning, I am thrilled to meet the real live people who like my books.
Here are a few pix from this Saturday’s signing at Mitchell’s Book Corner:
I’m also inspired by all the other writers and artists on the island. It’s quite amazing, how many creative people are here. Pix of my two favorite craftswomen with their displays at the Christmas Stroll:
Janice Dougherty, who makes sublime pieces with island shells and grasses:
Below is the one I bought to hang in my study. The intricate design and delicacy remind me to be as careful and as selective with my words.
And my fabulous friend Leslie Linsley, who has published numerous books on crafts and interior design and writes columns for our local newspaper and lives two houses away from me! I think we’re in some kind of zone of crazy creativity!
Next week, I’ll tell you about books that I’ve loved and been inspired by this year. Until then, here’s a Christmas gift for you all, discovered in the Oct/Nov AARP in the article about 50 ways to stay healthy: Laugh at those online videos of cats! It opens up our blood vessels and helps improve blood pressure. Wonderful news! I was feeling guilty about spending so much time laughing at animal videos, and now I can feel virtuous, because I’m improving my health!
And don’t forget that A Very Nantucket Christmas, which includes both my Christmas novels, is now available in a great paperback, available online and at bookstores, at $16, a great stocking stuffer!