Inspiration - the elusive writer's muse
Once, I saw a photograph of a gorge between two huge cliffs, with clouds lapping in the space between them, and a tiny ant of a man standing on the edge, looking over that space. I imagined a world which existed above the clouds. I had a setting, but no story. I was 14 at the time. So I packed the photograph away in my 'ideas box', and pulled it out earlier this year, when I had a dream of a girl being thrown off a cliff. She turned into a dragon. That became the inspiration for my bestselling YA fantasy, Aranya . I had a setting but it took over 20 years for an idea to germinate. Sometimes I dream about books, sit down the next day, and write up a 3-5 page summary. But you might ask, "What started you writing and publishing books?" I'll admit, I had grave reservations about putting my writing out into the market. With 10 books now published in 2 years, that sounds inane now. But the truth is that a writer exposes something intensely personal to public sc
