The Princess and I Blog Tour: Day Two

Two days down, three to go! And today...I'm joined by Bonnie. So be sure to go check out her lovely blog for a review, spotlight, AND interview! :D Three awesome things for the price of one! (We'll ignore the fact that the price of one was *cough* free.)

I'm super excited to share some of the things that inspired different parts of "The Princess and I" so let's jump right in, shall we? (I promise there won't be any spoilers involved!)

Have a picture of my book. Just because. ;)

 

Music:

Most of the music I listen to during writing is movie soundtrack tracts in my "Rebekah's Writing Music" playlist on my computer. I do that in order to keep my writing exciting. However, there were a couple songs I listened to while I wasn't writing that inspired a couple scenes as well. Those of you who have read the book might know which scenes they inspired...but I don't want to give parts of the scenes because...you know, I promised there wouldn't be any spoilers. So. 

To those of you who have read my book to completion, the following songs I put on here will make the most sense...but you might cry. Just thought I'd warn you.
I dedicate each song to the character I think would be singing it. :)

William Price

 

Megan

 

Megan

 

Steven/Megan

 

Steven

 

Pinterest:

It's not ALWAYS a giant time waster. Most of the time, I grant you, but not ALWAYS. Pinterest has had its moments. Moments when it actually helped me more then it was a distraction. I got a lot of pictures and dialogue prompts that pulled me out of a rut and put me back on the road to finishing the story. 

Blogs/Websites:

I follow a couple blogs/websites written by writers who have a lot more experience then I do when it comes to being an author. There are times when I need help with a certain area of writing or editing, and these have proved helpful more times than I can count. 

The Story Forger

Go Teen Writers

Helping Writers Become Authors

Friends:

There's a couple people I go to when I'm feeling in need of some inspiration. Sometimes, I just need a person other then the voice in my head to tell me that my story sounds good and will be awesome when it's done. During the writing of "The Princess and I", I had several people infect me with their enthusiasm and ignite my mind with new ideas. (A few scenes inside the story are only there because someone mentioned it would be good to add something there.) I won't name them here, since I'll end up forgetting someone, but there were a LOT and my book wouldn't have made it all this way without them. <3

Family:

My family served as inspiration in more ways then one. A lot of the banter between character sibling groups was inspired by my own siblings and cousins.

While I write stories, I often read them aloud to my younger siblings, and they were constantly begging me to read another chapter and asking me what happens to their favorite character. Recently, my younger sister asked me after reading the proof copy of my book "You've started working on the sequel, right?" When I mentioned I had done some brainstorming she replied, "Good. Hurry and finish it so I can read it." 

My older brother who is currently working seminary in Wisconson calls us upon occasion. One of those times, he and I had an hour long conversation at a point when I was stuck at a fork in the road of my story's plot. He helped me solidify the end of my book and decide which direction I was taking it. 

Yep, it's awesome! Love my family! <3

Books:

A couple people asked me if there were any stories in particular that helped inspire "The Princess and I". I did get ideas from some random fairy tales and Medieval history books. A lot of the life at the castle (the feasts, descriptions, etc.) came from a book called "Castles" we've had gathering dust on our bookshelf. I read that over and over again. It gathers dust no longer. ;) 

Dreams:

Yep. A few parts of the story came from dreams. Upon waking up and realizing the outcome of the brilliant plot twist made no sense (somehow the villain was a rhinoceros? And somehow ducks were really dangerous... Yeah, I wasn't putting that in the story) I had to edit the dreams a bit after thinking about them. But it was...interesting. My brain is a little weird sometimes. 

And thus I was inspired. Weird things ended up helping my story become the novel it is today. Every little piece made the puzzle into a picture. 

Come back tomorrow for a list of 21 things I researched for my book. Until then, I hope you all have a fabulous day!