Hello and welcome to the blog hop! We took a couple of weeks off, but now we are back. I hope everyone had a great Easter and got to spend some time with their families. Ours was pretty low key. We hid eggs all over the house and the Easter bunny brought some art supplies! The weather here in northern California is crazy, we go from being very comfortable at 18C/68F to insanely hot 33C/90F!! I am much happier when the weather is a bit cooler. With that comes all the crazy allergies, and they are driving me nuts. I can’t seem to stop sneezing, which is why I am inside on the couch looking out at the beautiful weather and typing this up so I don’t have to blow my nose every two minutes.
If you missed what the incredible A.S. Fenichel had to say, just click and pop back.
Today the amazing Leslie Hachtel asks us:
Everybody always asks me where I get my inspiration. What is your favorite inspiration story and what book was the result?
The very first book I wrote was set in Newfoundland, Canada. It was when I was living there that I got the inspiration to write a novel set in St. John’s. I had just moved to St. John’s with my husband after we got married and in truth I didn’t want to be there. I didn’t know a whole lot of people, the weather and culture were completely different from my native California. As I spent more time around town and immersed myself into everything, I came to love this small island in the North Atlantic.
Before I could work, I found a writers group to take up some time. It was here when I rediscovered my love of writing. I began to write a historical romance where a young woman has to leave London and everything she knows to move to a small fisherman’s island where everything is strange and different. She feels isolated and alone, much like I did. I put a lot of my feelings into the heroine and how she adjusted.
The whole island of Newfoundland and the city of St. John’s is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. There is so much history, culture, music, food that you fall in love with. At first I didn’t want to be there, but after exploring on my own and with my husband I grew to love it. In fact, we had our firstborn there. We left shortly before his one year birthday and I miss St. John’s so much. I miss the slowness, the quiet, the hikes, the closeness of it all, pretty much everything.
As I was exploring, I found all of my inspiration here. From Cabot Tower up on the hill to the old historic houses downtown, it was amazing. I have the heroine explore all the places I visited and it was like seeing them again for the first time. My book is called Wrongfully Wed and I’m in the editing process of it. It is almost done and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.
If you ever get a chance to visit Newfoundland, I highly recommend it. The summer is the best time to go where you will have some warm weather and George Street Fest has amazing music. You can also stand on the most easterly point of North America and look out into the ocean as the wind buffets you from every corner. I can’t wait to go back and gain some more inspiration.
Well that’s it for me today, I hope you enjoyed the inspiration for my first novel. Now continue on the hop and see what the talented Leslie Hachtel has to say about what inspires her stories. Until next time!
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