Here’s a wee guest blog from fellow writer Grant Leishman on sources of inspiration
SOURCES OF INSPIRATION – OR, “WHAT THE HELL DO I DO NEXT?”
Firstly, I want to thank David Gilchrist for asking me to be a guest on his blog today.
As an author, people often ask me two questions:
1/ Why did you become an author? and;
2/ Where do you get your inspiration from for your stories?
So, addressing the first question, why did I become an author? Well, that’s relatively simple really. Because I promised my Mummy I would. Let me explain. Many, many moons ago, when I was just eight-years-old and lying at home, in my bed, dying of some dreaded flu or cold, I decided the only way I could pass the time away was by reading. In the four days I was off school sick, I read “The Swiss Family Robinson” from cover to cover. That was my true introduction to books and I’ve been hooked ever since, first as a reader and now as an author.
When my Mum came into my room to tuck me in that night, I told her that I was going to be a famous writer, when I grew up and write exciting books like “The Swiss Family Robinson”. She patted me gently on the head and said something patronising (as all Mothers do) like, “of course you will dear”. So, it’s taken me a little longer to grow up than I’d planned and Mum’s been gone for over seven years now, but I like to look up from time to time and just whisper to her; “see Mum, I told you I’d do it one day”. I like to think she looks down and smiles, saying; “yeah son, you did, you really did”.
Moving on to the second question; where do I get my inspiration for my stories from. To answer that, I’ll look at a couple of my books, “The Second Coming” and The “Photograph”.
The Second Coming was my first ever book. I had no knowledge, whatsoever, of how to write a novel, but I thought; what the hell! Let’s just give it a go. I looked around at what was selling at the time and I noticed the number one best-seller around then was a fascinating, little book, called “The First Phonecall from Heaven” by Mitch Albom. A light bulb went off in my head and I thought; “aha, God sells”! I got to thinking and asking myself “What If”? Finally, it hit me; “what if Jesus came back in the Twenty-First Century to try to put things to right again.” I didn’t want this to be a religious book; I wanted it to have a bit of humour to it as well as being more about morality and goodness, rather than religion. I decided that Jesus would return to modern-day Manila and he would have lost his memory, about his mission on Earth, in an accident. Thus, “The Second Coming” was born. I had no idea at the time that it would turn into a trilogy, but when I was close to finishing the book, I started to wonder, what next? What if JC and Maria got married and had children, what would they be like? From that came “Rise of the AntiChrist” and “Holy War”. It was great fun writing these three volumes and those that have read them have told me how much they enjoyed the quirkiness and humour of the three books. What more can an author wish for than to have a satisfied reader. It makes everything worthwhile.
The second book I will cover today is “The Photograph”. The inspiration for that came about in an oddball way also. I was checking my Facebook thread and noticed a conversation between a friend and fellow author Colin Griffiths and one of his friends, Tony Logan. I eavesdropped of course (as you do). Tony (an amateur photographer) was telling Colin he had discovered an old roll of film from the 1970’s that he’d never developed. They were conjecturing as to what might be on the old film. It got me to thinking and as I’d wanted to write a supernatural thriller, for some time, I conjured up in my mind what just might be on that film. I decided it would include a picture that had a disturbing image in the background and thus “The Photograph” began to take shape in my mind. Perhaps the greatest compliment of all for “The Photograph”, which incidentally has been far and away my most successful book to date, was paid to me by one of the two participants in the original conversation. Colin, having read the final book was moved to comment; “wow, I had no idea you would go down that road. It was a total surprise to me. Great stuff!” Again, honest feedback like that, from a reader, is what makes all the long hours, the tedious editing, and the self-doubts, all worthwhile. Thank you Colin and Tony, for the inspiration for; “The Photograph”.
So, there we have it. Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. Interestingly enough, I’m between projects at present and just waiting for that divine spark of inspiration to hit me. What I know is that it will come, when I least expect it, from the place I least expect it. That’s why being an author is so much fun and despite all the anguish and angst we go through, why it is ultimately so rewarding and a life path I won’t ever regret travelling down.
Thank you David for this opportunity to appear as a guest on your blog. I so appreciate it.
Grant is an expatriate New Zealander who has made his home in the beautiful islands of The Philippines.
After a career in accounting and journalism he has finally found my true calling in life and is now happily “living the dream”, writing full-time.
He lives in Manila, with his beautiful wife Thess and two wonderful step-daughters Angeline and Amelia-Rose.
You can find his work at
http://viewauthor.at/GrantLeishman
