Category Archives: Inspiration

Garrow’s Law

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L-R: Mr. Silvester (Aidan McArdle); Mr. Southouse (Alun Armstrong); William Garrow (Andrew Buchan); Lady Sarah Hill (Lyndsey Marshal); Sir Arthur Hill (Rupert Graves)

If only I’d known of this brilliant BBC 18th century drama series while writing Sweet Salvation, I could’ve made Alex’s trial at the Old Bailey much more realistic. I think I did well enough using the research I found at the Old Bailey website, but being the visual person I am, I would’ve placed my characters in the spaces they would’ve actually filled.

Judge Buller (Michael Culkin)

Of course, all of my story and characters are purely fictional and I took great license with the proceedings and judgement handed down by my Judge Thompson. I enjoyed imagining the scene and I hope my readers loved the visual I tried to create. :-)

Lady Sarah & Mr. Garrow

As for Garrow’s Law, I can’t say enough good things about this series. For those who have a passion for 18th century British history, especially in regard to the legal system, this drama is a must see. The visual details are stunning, the language understandable, and the characters feel true to their time.  I can’t wait for Season 4 to begin, but I’m saddened  there will only be four episodes.

Mr. Silvester & Mr. Garrow

Center: The ever self-serving Lord Melville (Stephen Boxer)

The deceased Mr. Southouse's nephew, George Pinnock (Harry Melling)

Sir Arthur Hill

Love!

Late to the Downton Abbey Party

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I love Pinterest. Now I have a place to save all those wonderful images I find and want to keep for future reference. Bookmarking/Favorites doesn’t give me the necessary visual for why I bookmarked something and storing them in a folder on my hard drive doesn’t give me the ability to click the picture and be taken straight to the Internet site where I found the image. Most of all, I love seeing what those I’m following are finding on the world wide web that may inspire my writing worlds. That’s how I discovered Downton Abbey.

One had posted a picture of a castle and titled it Downton Abbey. I was quite confused because I knew the place depicted was Highclere Castle in Berkshire. So I did a quick Bing search and became even more confused. I called my bff, Tracy (of Cotton Creek Soap Co.), and asked her if she knew what this show was all about and why I’d never heard of it. Turns out my cable t.v. package doesn’t include any BBC channels, but the show’s being aired on PBS.  Excellent news, but I’d already missed all of season one and most of season two.

Yesterday, I found the episodes to view online and I’m SO hooked! I love everything about this series drama. The storyline includes the goings on of the upstairs family/downstairs servants, is rich with awesome visuals, and each episode plot is compelling.

I have a lot of catching up to do before the next episode of season two airs. If I’m not seen around the nets for the next several days, you’ll know why. ;-)

Diagram of a Frigate

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Research! It leads me down paths I never expected to travel. In Sweet Liberation, Lady Joanna spends a great deal of time on the earl of Sener’s frigate.  I needed to know the layout of the ship in order to accurately portray how the couple and crew would live and interact with each other in their floating castle.  This image, while a bit difficult to decipher at first, helped me tremendously, along with Ship’s Miscellany: A Guide to the Royal Navy of Jack Aubrey by Michael O’Mara Books Limited.

This image of the HMS Surprise was the inspiration for Sweet Liberation.

Things That Spark My Imagination

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Sometimes, when I struggle to find the right words to convey what I’m seeing in my mind, I resort to searching Google and Bing for pictures that give my creativity a boost.  Several special  images have remained in my collection  for years and still never fail to spark my imagination anew.  Here are a few that helped me in the telling of Alex and Desiree’s story.

Seaton Tor on the windswept coast of southern England.

The front side of Alex's castle.

All Desiree wanted.

The dower house.

The gallows.

The highwayman.

The trial at the Old Bailey.

Mrs. Crawley's Inn

The master bedchamber.

The library, but with a different desk and high-backed chairs.

The castle kitchen.

The castle kitchen.

The Great Hall of Seaton Tor.

If you've read Sweet Salvation, you know exactly what this represents. ;-)

Normal Moments, Inc.

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Normal Moments, Inc. is a Chicago-based charity opening a chapter in Indianapolis.  They work to give more “normal moments” for parents with critically ill children by providing services such as sending a professional cleaning service into the home, snow removal, lawn care, and ultimately matching a family with a volunteer who will donate 3 – 4 hours every 2 weeks to help.

Amanda Farmer-Dye is the Leader for the Indianapolis chapter and would like to ask for your help in supporting this non-profit organization by making a donation.  All donations go directly to paying for professional services for the family and for overhead, which is primarily printing.  Please check out their website at www.normalmoments.org where you can find out more about this great organization.  You can also make a donation on the website.  When making a donation, please include “Indianapolis” on the invoice or in the description box when filling out the credit/debit card info to ensure that the funds will be allocated to this new chapter.

It’s a very worthy cause.  Please donate what you can–even if it’s only a few dollars–or more importantly, your time!  Thank you!

Lis’Anne

MIA

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Sorry I slacked off posting over the past several months.  The Southern Lights Writers Conference is gearing up and I’m on the committee this year.  So much to do, so little time!   

Recently I had suffered from extreme writer’s block. I couldn’t even muster up the energy to read my faves unless it was emailed to me. When I heard the great Nathan Bransford quit agenting to take a job with CNET, severe depression set in. :(   Not that I ever intended to query him since I don’t write what he used to represent, but he was a damn good agent. His career change added to the perception of the publishing world crumbling in this horrid economy. I’m so very glad he’s still blogging about books, and even more thrilled to see debut romance authors appearing left and right!  

I had a major writing breakthrough a few days ago that reenergized me–and one of my critique partners talked me into starting a new blog venture with her–Chicks in the Kitchen–about what’s happening in each of ours. The neatest part of this one is taking pictures of our culinary masterpieces and sharing recipes along with our writing lives.  We have some guest bloggers lined up to share the goings-on in their kitchens, as well. 

So, I’m back, but with no guarantees on how often I’ll post here.  I still have sandcastledreamer.blogspot.com to work on, too.  A new Random Surf Report will be up on that site shortly.

Happy reading & writing!
Lis

Romance Survives Tough Economy

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Author Rita Henuber posted this video to one of our writing loops. This one’s definitely worth sharing. It gives all of us hope to see our own stories published one day–soon with any luck!

more about "Romance Survives Tough Economy", posted with vodpod