Eva Pasco's Blog - Posts Tagged "inspiration"

From what I’ve gathered hanging around social media’s water coolers, most Indie authors have a playlist conducive to advancing their story writing—whether motivational fight songs, or songs complementing plot, theme, and characters.

It should go without saying:

Don’t quote song lyrics in your book. You can reference the song but not the actual lyrics. You can print a song’s title, there’s no law against that – though you might not want to use a song title as your book’s title as you can run afoul of trademark law.

http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/10/lyri...

Although I’d referenced several songs in my multi-award winning Contemporary, 'An Enlightening Quiche,' one song predominated for its commentary on isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships, while capturing the irony and cynicism of my protagonist—“Closing Time” (2009) written and performed by Leonard Cohen.

Augusta: A vision of myself as a ghoul from Christmases Yet to Come appeared in the guise of a long-in-the-tooth trollop flicking fried dyed hair and wearing age-inappropriate, skintight attire tautly stretched over my butt of a joke. A comparable image satirized every night by Cohen at closing time inside the chamber of Chuggers put the fear of God in me.

As I round the bend of chapter 4 in my Contemporary WIP, 'Aida’s Fishing Ground,' a song illustrative of a bygone era alluding to what transpires in the present, and has far-reaching effects moving forward is “Fire and Rain” (1970), a folk rock song written and performed by James Taylor.

Since there are no guarantees in life for seeing that special someone one more time again—act accordingly.

In Real Time:

LIVE - 03/03 @ 8 – 9 PM EST: my author interview hosted by Yvonne Mason on “Off the Chain”:

https://www.reddit.com/user/offthecha...

Last week’s blog delved into the internal fire that ignites one’s intellectual pursuit or artistic flair—in my case, “writing”. As mentioned in my conclusion, one needs more than an innate fire to develop an idea and see it to fruition:

What’s your inspiration?

With time on my hands after retirement, midlife restlessness rekindled my dormant imagination and passion for writing. My inspiration to write my first full-length, Contemporary Women’s Fiction novel, 'Underlying Notes,' sprang from my lifelong addiction to fragrance which incorporated fictionalized accounts of my online participation at forums on perfume sites:

Carla Matteo copes with life by "taking to the bottle"— glass goddesses funneling perfume! During a mid-life renaissance, the juice provides a hook for Carla to find her own niche while the ominous rose note in Paloma Picasso forces her to confront a troubled past.

The inspiration for my second Contemporary, 'An Enlightening Quiche,' took root in the beloved village of Manville, Rhode Island where I began my teaching career at Northern Lincoln Elementary. Rich in history for housing the Manville Mill powered by the Blackstone River, it was the largest textile mill in the country with over 5,000 employees in the 1950s. Massive flooding caused by Hurricane Diane in 1955, and a devastating fire two weeks later, contributed to the mill’s demise.

I reference this in my novel as well as fabricate my own history for Brulé Bookbinding Co., the fictitious bookbinding mill in my story.

I’m also inspired by Manville’s warmth which I attribute to the predominantly French-Canadians who immigrated to the area at the turn of the 20th century, seeking gainful employment in the mill. I had the privilege of teaching their descendants who reflected time-honored values instilled in them by their forbears who were no strangers to hard work.

Though the village embraced other ethnicities throughout the ensuing years leading up to my retirement 29 years later, I chose to preserve Manville’s original aura in my book through the fictitious locale of Beauchemins—rife with secrets and scandals.

The inspiration behind my WIP in my signature genre of Contemporary, 'Aida’s Fishing Ground,' originated from the subject of a controversial post I happened to catch on Facebook—should you tell a friend that his/her partner is cheating?

May every dreamer latch onto an idea and develop it to full potential.

A little birdie told me!

Actually—relayed a clairaudient message conveyed through partial song lyrics crooning through the inner voice in my mind, as I went about my business in the kitchen. Sending me reeling to the theme from 'Moonstruck'.

The refrain of “Don’t you know!” repeating in my mind prompted me to listen to the source from which it sprang—the song adaptation of the aria, "Musetta's Waltz” from Puccini's La Bohème, recorded by Jerry Vale in 1964:

Don't you know
I have fallen in love with you
For the rest of my whole life through
Don't you know
I was yours from the very day
That you happened to come my way

Wouldn’t you know!

An Indie author, I took this further by incorporating the gist of these words for the dialogue of a scene I happen to be working on in chapter 28 of my current Work in Progress.

Furthermore, the scene that’s shaping up has prompted me to change the name of my main character which also happens to be in the title. Yes, I have my work cut out for me, thanks to my muse who mind-melded with me.

Whenever I open my novel document to resume writing, the “pantser” approach renders the process an adventure beset with unexpected plot twists.

Literary works undergo many revisions to absorb the writer’s newfound visions.

(Don’t You Know – Jerry Vale)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gydqT...