Inspirations

Lexi's Notebook

     Let’s talk about the writing process. I know this isn’t really an inspiration. It’s more like an insight, but I thought it was interesting. 

    So I have this notebook… Well, like all authors I’m actually made of notebooks. I have a lot of notebooks. I mean a lot. Anyway, this notebook is for my ideas. I don’t tend to write them in this notebook until I have thought about it for a little while. When I get it in my head to really plot, I open up this notebook. Sometimes it all goes to plan and what I wrote ends up on the page. 

    Sometimes it does not. I present to you two cases of the plot going wild on me. 

    The first was my idea for a book about Clive Weston, Simon’s older brother. I teased him being in a relationship with a woman he shared with his three best friends. Tragedy happens and he loses the woman and one of his friends to a car accident. So this was my solution. He was going to need a bodyguard and get Nina Blunt. The situation was going to put him back in touch with his close friend (obvi the other one who survived) and they were going to go to war for her until they remembered they liked to share.

    Except that did not happen and now Nina is married to JT and happily running Malone Oil’s security division. What happened here? I was never able to fit the book into a series and Clive got left behind. But Nina worked well with JT, so she didn’t. 

    The second is evidence that what feels right at the time doesn’t end up being practical in long run. Sometimes we start out with one idea we think is brilliant that ends up forever living in a notebook. These ideas for Happily Ever After in Bliss are proof. Henry does get kidnapped but he’s not renditioned by the Agency. Sounded fun, but it didn’t work. It made more sense for the Agency to work with him. But I do think it would have been fun to see Connor from Perfect Gentlemen having to deal with Nell convincing his wife Lara to protest him until Henry came home. 

    I won’t even go into all the names that change. So I hope you enjoy this little insight into the creative process. I would say no characters were harmed in the making, but Clive would not agree…