Erica Vetsch here: It is my absolute pleasure to host Carolyn Miller here at Seekerville today. We met in person at the 2018 ACFW Conference, and I can tell you, she is a delight. (With an awesome accent!) Thanks so much, Carolyn, for stopping by Seekerville!
Pique
Practice by Carolyn
Miller
‘She sells
seashells by the seashore.’
You’re
familiar with this tongue-twister, right? It’s said the “She” who sells
seashells was Mary Anning, a poor, marginalized Englishwoman who despite her meagre
education went on to discover some of England’s most spectacular fossils of the
early 1800s, and eventually to be regarded as one of Britain’s most influential
women of science.
My interest
was piqued by this woman’s remarkable story, and by the fact that some of her
most important discoveries happened during the Regency period – something which
excited this historical author’s heart, and led me to write a novel based
around the fossil-hunting mania of the Regency period (A Hero for Miss Hatherleigh, releasing March 19).
It’s funny
how such a random thing as Googling the background of a tongue-twister can
provide inspiration for a novel. When I look back on the novels I’ve written so
far, it’s been a wide variety of things that have piqued enough interest to
inspire a novel. For my first published novel, The Elusive Miss Ellison, I was inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Georgette Heyer,
which helped inform the plot and wit and characters.
I’ve been
inspired by locations (Bath! Brighton! Derbyshire! Scotland!), castle images,
the challenge of presenting an unsympathetic character sympathetically,
historic events, Bible verses, sermons, maps, garage sale finds, among a
million other things that have piqued my interest.
The very
first novel-length story I wrote was a contemporary story based around the
Winter Olympics, because my interest was piqued by the sight of a US male
athlete holding hands with an Aussie girl. What was their story? I had to know.
(And when I couldn’t find out, I made it up!)
I love how
the very randomness of such things can get the creative juices flowing. And in
today’s world, it seems we’re surrounded by such opportunities:
· News items
· TV shows, films, books
· Photographs, pictures and paintings
· Music
· The Internet (oh my, it’s a land of
a million rabbit trails, isn’t it?)
· And so much more…
Even our
mundane chores down the street can provide inspiration as we overhear a snippet
of conversation, or witness an awkward scene between friends or family members
at a café, school or supermarket.
But being surrounded
as we are by so many sources of potential inspiration can present an author
with some questions:
· How do you decide what is
story-worthy?
· How do you record your story ideas?
In a notebook, on your phone, scribbled notes on the back of receipts? Or are
you more organized and use particular apps and programs like Evernote to record
your ‘piqued interest’?
· What do you do to store these random
story ideas?
I’m still
trying to figure a lot of this out. I’m a historical author, but I have plenty
of half-finished contemporary stories floating around my computer. Some of the
scenarios I’ve been able to translate into Regency settings, but I figure some
will never be unleashed on the world (and that might be a good thing!). For me
a creative idea has to have enough substance, be plottable, hold enough magic
so I remain excited enough to write 90,000 words – or at least until I get to
45K, when I might need to practise ‘butt in seat’ technique to reach ‘The End.’
Some items
of ‘piqued interest’ will be relegated to secondary storylines, subplots, etc.
That’s okay. I think the best stories are those with multiple story strands
that pique the reader’s interest until the end.
As for my
recording of such moments, I’ll admit I’m a bit of a mess. Yes, I have
Evernote, but I don’t use it as I could. Last month I was doing a spring clean
of my office and desk and discovered a huge array of tattered notebooks and
scraps of paper, all containing plenty of – you guessed it – story ideas and
clippings of things that had once piqued my interest. What to do with them?
Good question.
I know I’m not
offering many answers, and that’s because I’d love to hear your thoughts about
what your ‘pique practices’ may be. Sharing is caring, so please let me know
what you do when your creativity is piqued by answering these questions.
Authors:
What’s a
random thing that has sparked your creativity and turned an ‘I wonder…’ into a
published novel?
Readers:
Do you read
author’s notes in a novel where they give an explanation for why they wrote the
story? Have you come across anything that particularly piqued your interest and
you think could be story worthy?
Giveaway: Carolyn is offering an ebook
or
paperback of her upcoming release A Hero
for Miss Hatherleigh to one commentator…
Carolyn Miller lives
in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her
husband and four children. Together
with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years, and worked as a
public high school English and Learning and Support teacher. A longtime lover of
romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era,
Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into
fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her Regency
novels include The Elusive Miss Ellison, The Captivating Lady Charlotte, The
Dishonorable Miss DeLancey, Winning Miss Winthrop, Miss Serena's Secret, The Making of Mrs. Hale, and
A Hero for Miss Hatherleigh, all available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
Book Depository, Christianbook, etc.
