Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Inspiration - a crow swatter

Talk about the Crows of Doubt and it strikes such a chord with other writers! Thank you to everyone for the emails and the comments and the phone calls. Oh and special thanks to Liz Fielding for her lovely comments on Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife on her blog. When a writer you admire gives you a compliment like that it's the equivalent of being handed a machine gun to blast those crows. Thanks Liz!


Special thanks too to Anne McAllister for the very practical reminder of the need for lots of research and inspiration in writing. In the comments section yesterday she asked to see Santos -

Have we seen a pic of Santos? she said. Maybe we need a pic of him. I, for one, don't remember what he looks like. Hmmmmm?


And later in a phone call she repeated the demand. So I sent her my inspiration - a photo I've been keeping for a while.

Now Anne is a novelist who really likes to do her research. She works hard at it. She's even blogged about it once or twice. And once she'd met Santos she decided she needed to research him a little more.

So we spent an enjoyable - ahem - concentrated and deep and meaningful - time with me generously sharing my research and Anne studiously and conscientiously making notes in case this inspiration might be needed in her own work later.



So we checked out Santos the businessman - in very much the Presents style.



And there was Santos in more relaxed mode - but this is a man who's never really totally relaxed. His past has made him like that. He doesn't trust easily - in fact I'd say he doesn't trust.




And there's Santos the lover


And then - well - just because - there's . . . Santos.
Actually, that back makes me think of Anne's latest cover - the one for her fabulous One-Night Love Child. Although I know this guy wasn't the model for that book, he could have been.
It was a great research session. There's not much that's better than sharing important and meaningful research with a great friend who is also a writer and who understands totally the - esthetics - involved. And the need to get just the right image for each different mood.

And I came away re-inspired and with my writer's brain invigorated and my imagination dusted off - another great big machine gun to fire at those pesky crows.


So here I am, armed against the nasty black flying things, snug inside on a nasty cold snowy, icy day - ready to do battle with any crow that dares to venture near. And if they do start flapping I have a little extra inspiration to study so that I don't have to look at them

Research, it's a wonderful thing - and so are the fabulous friends I have in this writing life. Thank you all!

5 comments:

Anne McAllister said...

I'm pretty much up for that sort of research anytime, Kate. Hope you have a very productive work day today. I think that same guy may usurp the position of Seb. The one I had for him is a bit, um, cheery looking. Seb can be cheery, but mostly he's pretty buttoned-down and intense. This guy looks far more INTENSE.

Anonymous said...

That's how I connect/reconnect with my characters, too, Kate. It really helps sometimes to see them.

Anonymous said...

ohhhh, Santos, Santos, Santos...

Madeline said...

Hi Kate, I finally figured out how to post on your blog. Problems with my Google account prevented me from posting on your blog. I got all the bugs fixed today. I hope!!! It wanted me to listen to the verification letters and then type them in. The audio did not come through. Very frustrating for me.

Thank you for answering my post on Annes blog.

What I wanted to say to you was: I'm so glad that you have support in chasing all those Crows away. The books that you write are well worth the wait. I've had many enjoyable nights of reading thanks to you, Anne, and all the other Presents authors. I've been reading Presents since the line first started, and I've never been disappointed.

Your new release should be here next week, and I can't wait to read it.

All the Best, Mads:)

Anonymous said...

Oh my god.... Santos!!!
I am drooling while working..lol..

Take care Kate,
Karuna

ps: btw, you are more than welcome if you want to use my name as your new heroine..lol... (I am allowed to dream, am I?)

 

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