Today my blog is being taken over by Lindsay Avalon. She is stopping by to promote her book Breaking the Nexus. Be sure to enter the tour wide giveaway. I’d like to thank Bewitching Book Tours for letting me have this slot on the tour. So without any further waiting here is Lindsay Avalon to talk about what inspires her writing.
What inspires me to write? Well, that question has many answers. One of my biggest inspirations comes from mythology. My Mythrian Realm series centers around the concept that all the myths and legends are based in reality. That at one time, dragons and gryphons walked with humans. That magic is as real as people who can shapeshift into beasts. Naturally, I look to myths for inspiration, but I am also working to give things my own twist. Since many stories can change in the retelling, I have a bit of creative license to work with.
My sister is a huge Classics buff; she even majored in the Classics and at one time she taught Latin. From an early age, she adored Greek and Roman mythology and would drill into my head the different tales. Due to her influence, I draw a great deal of inspiration from this particular subset, but I also love Celtic legends. The ability to have gryphons and banshees in the same realm fascinates me and my imagination runs wild with ideas.
However, it’s not only myths that inspire me. I cannot live without music, especially trailer music. You know those epic tracks in movie and video game trailers? The kind that get your heart racing and draw you into whatever is being shown? That’s what I listen to when I write. It’s what helps me keep the fast, action-filled pace and opens the floodgates on my writing juju as I like to call it.
There’s one other major source of inspiration: my husband, my muse, my betas and my readers. My husband inspires me to live my dream of being an author and he’s always more than happy to let me bounce ideas off of him. He’s one of those brutally honest people who will tell me if he doesn’t like an idea or doesn’t think it’ll work. Without his input, Breaking the Nexus may never have come to fruition because when I realized how much work the original version needed, I wanted to throw in the towel. My hubby was the one who pushed me to continue and he never fails to encourage my love of writing.
My muse, Carrie Fort, is an amazing woman who knows how to ask me questions to get the juju really working. She reads everything as I write it, getting new content every thousand or so words. When I’m stuck, all I have to do is ask her for questions and she’ll fire off a series that gets the wheels turning. In addition to my muse, I have an amazing group of beta readers. Technically, I have two sets of betas. The first read as I write, but they don’t get it quite as frequently as Carrie. Usually I send them completed chapters to read. They give me feedback on where areas need more detail and if I get stuck, I have a few people to ask me questions to get things going. They’ve helped me formulate some amazing plot ideas and I’m so lucky to have them. Last but never least, there are my readers. Multiple times I’ve gotten stuck on naming a character and have put out a call on Facebook for ideas. You wouldn’t believe the responses I get. The comments and feedback I get from my readers, both good and bad, inspire me to keep writing and energize me when things get tough.
So, there you have it. My inspiration stems from so many places and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Breaking the Nexus
Book 1 of the Mythrian Realm series
Lindsay Avalon
Book Description:
Throughout history, myths and legends of extraordinary creatures have been told and retold. Fantastic tales of demons and banshees, gryphons and dragons, and of course, magic. Stories that every child grows to learn are nothing more than fantasy…or are they?
Beyond the world you see lies a hidden realm, the Mythrian Realm, inhabited by all of the creatures you’ve been told are mere fiction. Only one thing lies between humans and the truth: the Nexus. A magical barrier erected millennia ago to separate the two realms, it has stood the test of time. Until now.
For Mythrian Sha Phoenix, magic is nothing new. But when she stumbles upon a portal on the verge of collapse, her fate will forever change. Pulled through the portal into the Human Realm, she lands in the middle of Detective Connor Flynn’s brutal murder scene. Soon it is obvious someone is using blood magic to try to bring down the Nexus. Together, Connor and Sha must work to unravel the secrets before the barrier falls and the realms collide.
The Nexus is breaking and all hell is about to unleash…literally.
Giveaway:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0a8d1f18/
About the Author:
I am a wife, a programmer, and now an author. I have an adorable mini Schnauzer and more books than I have room for. I love reading romance because no matter what may be happening in my life, I can always count on my books to end happily ever after. The day I met my husband was the day I truly began believing in happily ever after. After hearing me complain a few too many times that I had “nothing” to read despite the hundreds of paperbacks scattered around the house, my husband began suggesting I write my own stories. When I finally took his advice I discovered that although I enjoy my day job as a software engineer, my true calling is to be an author.
My sister drilled into me an appreciation for fantasy and mythology, something I try to bring to my books. My debut novel, Breaking the Nexus started as a book written for NaNoWriMo and has grown to so much more. It was the conduit that introduced me to a fantastic group of independent authors who have changed my life in unimaginable ways.
When I’m not writing, I’ve found a passion for blogging and interviewing fellow authors. I also love reading (of course!), baking, crochet, sewing sock monkeys, playing video games, and all sorts of random crafts. I have an incurable love of rubber duckies and stuffed animals, and I believe nobody should have to grow up if they don’t want.
Website: http://www.lindsayavalon.com
Blog: http://lindsayavalon.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LindsayAvalon
Facebook: http://facebook.com/author.lindsay.avalon
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6568822.Lindsay_Avalon