Where Do I Get ideas For Stories? By Connie Vines

Where do I get ideas for my stories?   

I imagine every author has a 'wave link' that attracts stories.  

Native Americans believe that Story Tellers have a responsibility

to give a 'story' life.  Therefore, the story finds the story teller.

Is this a good thing?

It is if it's any 'easy' story to write.

However, the path from beginning to The End is seldom easy.

My first romance novel, came to me during a family vacation in the mid-west.  We were in a café and bit of banter between a woman and a cowboy popped into my head (in my case, dialogue is what seems to be the 'jump-start' mode to 99% of my stories).  Later during a rodeo in Nebraska I watched a bull-riding event.  This is when Lynx Maddox walked on to page one.  This novel was awarded numerous awards and was fun to write.  I had a vague plotline which my characters seldom adhered to.  While every writer loves all the characters in his/her novels (well, aside from the villains), Lynx is still my favorite.

While I was writing my first romance novel, I was also researching my first historical YA novel.

I was involved in the Indian Education, Title IX Programs, and served on the PAC (parent advisory committee for K-8 school district). I also facilitated workshops for the Native American children in the district.  

Larry Sellers (Cloud Dancing) actor/stuntman in "Dr .Quinn, Medicine Woman" on television. hosted a workshop.  We were speaking during the break. I told him about the novel I was working on.  He advised me to complete my story and shared his experience as a child in boarding schools. (He only spoke Sioux when, as a five-year-old, he was sent to a boarding school.) He, and others, endured terrible hardships--hardships even worst for students in the late 1800's.  

The research required locating archived materials, visiting Native American boarding schools, interviewing adults who had attended the school or could recall stories told to them by parents or grandparents.  My characters are not molded after a particular person, but a composite of the  people I interviews or read about. This story tore at my heart. The stories I heard and the shawl of sadness which still effected those, even in old age, always stays with me.

This novel, Tanayia--Whisper upon the Water, took five years to complete.  

The novel was nominated for a National Book Award and The Frankfurt e-Book Award.

I'm ready to begin the 2nd in this series because the story is starting to call to me.  Right now it is only in the basic plotting stage because stories dealing with the dark side of humanity are emotionally draining to write.

I also write in multiple genres.  In genres you would probably not expect a writer who is so immersed in historical research to dapple in.

My first published magazine article was featured in "Junior Medical Detective" and later appeared in the Thomas Gaye Educational Series.  The story was titled, "A Candle in the Dark" and it was about the Salem Witchcraft Trials.

I write Sassy and Fun Fantasy, and anthologies (on of which will be available in April 2021).

Available now

Fall of 2021

         

Currently, I finishing my anthology (Gumbo Ya Ya: for women who like Cajun romance).

This anthology covers multiple genres: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Cozy Mystery, A Ghost Story, and...I don't wish to spoil the plot for the 5th story. 

Cajun stories?

My husband is from Louisiana and New Orleans and the French Quarter are one of my favorite vacations spots.

Café Du Monde with coffee au lait and beignet dusted with a mountain of powdered sugar are my personal faves!

Romantic Suspense

Rodeo Romance, Book 2

Happy Reading!

Connie

Please stop by and visit the other talented authors participating in this month's blog hop:

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com

Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2eA

Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

 

My Favorite Blog Posts (Sharing is Caring) by Connie Vines #RR90

 This month’s topic: Review or recommend a book, a short story, or post on someone’s blog.

Wow! This is a difficult topic.  There are sooo many excellent books, short stories, online articles, and blog posts.

One of the blogs I follow is “The Eclectic Writer” by Janet Lane Walters.  Her blog is about writing and the things that effect a writer. About her books and those of others.

While I follow many other blog sites (everyone who is a member of our happy band of RR writers, of course), and fellow BWL author, Janet Lane Walters. Janet is always writing.  I don’t know if, or when, she sleeps. She posted 31 blog posts in October. That is a blog post EVERY day.  324 blog posts as of yesterday.  Wow!  Janet, like Diane Bator, are always interviewing authors and posting book reviews.  When I grow-up, I want to be just like them!

Well, I’m grown-up. . .and so far, I don’t seem been following their example. While Janet writes about “Meandering on Mondays” I really am meandering on Mondays—the garden, the pups training sessions, menu planning, taking photos of the red-tailed squirrel who steals my avocados.  

I’ve tried the early-to-bed-and-early-to-rise bit.   At 5:00 a.m. all I can manage to do is clutch my mug of coffee and wonder why it’s still dark outside.  So, I’ve decided that I am a nocturnal person. I do my best writing between 8:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.  (Yes, it’s dark outside during that time, too.)  I’m up by 7:30 a.m. and functional after a cup of coffee and 30 minutes of the morning news report.  

As for my favorite book, “The Author’s Checklist” by Elizabeth K. Kracht is my current recommended read.

Since I like to multi-task, I follow a video Story Time hour on Facebook by Lisa Salvary via the group: “Romance in Her Prime”.  Lisa reads (with character voices) or the author reads from a novel featuring heroines 34 years +.  If you miss the live broadcast, you can logon later to watch and listen.  This is free, fun, and new books are featured throughout the week. You just have to request to become a member.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RomanceInHerPrime/

I hope you enjoyed my blog post.

Remember to visit all the other members of our Round Robin Group to see what they are sharing!

Connie Vines

Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.wordpress.com

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/

Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/

Dr. Bob Rich  https://wp.me/p3Xihq-282

Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

Intuitive and Subtle Themes in My Novels by Connie Vines RR#88, @connievines-author

 Most novels have an easily understood point to make to the reader, do your stories ever have more subtle or intuitive themes? 

Thank you Robin for this month's topic.

An easily understood theme.  This statement caused to me chuckle.

When I complete my novel/short-story/article, etc. the theme is easily understood.  Not so when I first sit down at the keyboard.

Even though I write with only a very basic outline (I've evolved or devolved into a panster in my writing process).

And, this process, involves a great deal of fumbling during the process:

1. Look for Your Character’s Theme

Theme is always rooted in character. Your characters, specifically your protagonist, will tell you what your theme is about. Even if you try to tack on another theme, what your story is really about is whatever is at the heart of your character’s internal struggle.

This means you can’t just dream up some wild and unexpected thematic premise and squirt it onto your story like Dijon mustard onto a hot dog bun. You have to start with what you’ve already got. Look at your character—who she/he is and what she//he wants—and look at what she’s/he's doing in the plot.

Now look harder.

Let’s say you’re me and you’re writing a time-travel story (which, it so happens, I am). It’s novella 3 of my Sassy and Fun Fantasy Series about a professor of ancient civilizations and her not-historically-inclined fiancee. While she's the one who finds herself in ancient Egypt, he's the one tasked with bringing her home in time for their wedding.  No superpowers or cell phones in this plot-line.  

On its surface, that’s a story about good versus the unknown/evil, with true-love thrown in as a side dish. No superpowers, cell phones, or time-traveling map.  Our main characters are in huge trouble.

So we dig deeper. We look at what specific struggles this character is facing.

What does he want?

Why does he want it?

What is he willing to selflessly sacrifice to get it?

What is he willing to selfishly sacrifice?

What will he gain and what will he lose by the story’s end?

How will he have changed?

When asking yourself these questions about your character, the right answers probably won’t be immediately evident. You’ll have to think about them. You’ll have to recognize and reject most of the obvious answers. In the process, you may find your conception of the character and plot evolving into something deeper right alongside your theme. Since it's ancient Egypt, it will be an intuitive theme.

2. What’s a General Question You Feel You’re Always Asking About Life?

Don’t stop at the “little” life questions right there in front of your face. Look up and look out. What are the big questions that it seems like you’re always asking in one way or another? Obviously, a novella or short-story won't have a multi-layered plot or a wide-cast-of-characters but there's always a purpose.

3. What’s a Virtue You Feel Is Undervalued?

If you’re writing a story with a Positive Change Arc and a happy ending, then your theme will probably focus on affirming a virtue—love, courage, justice, mercy, kindness, self-sacrifice. If this so, don’t just pick the obvious one—love for romance and courage for action. Instead, choose one that is important to you and that you feel is either undervalued in the world or underrepresented in fiction.

4. I believe Universal Truths Can’t be Unique.

 It’s the way a character wrestles with truth that touches a chord of recognition in the reader. The story feels both thin and heavy-handed when the theme is obvious. Which is not to say that the theme should be deliberately obscured–but that the individual character’s struggle with the theme is what matters most.  I find I often rely on my writer's intuition resulting in a subtle secondary theme.

 5. Translating into my Stories.

"Lynx" Rodeo Romance deals with several themes, one of which is a personal one.  The same is true of "Tanayia--Whisper upon the Water". I believe this is why these novels have received awards and reviews.  Tapping into personal experiences and memories/trauma ring 'true' to others. 

The heart never lies.

 

On the lighter-side:

These two were banished from my office, for all of  ten minutes, for wrestling.

Chanel (background) Gavin (foreground)

Visit these talented writers to see what stories they are sharing this month: 

Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/

Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-22c

Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

Happy Reading,

Connie 

I'm Blogging @ RomanceGems today about Kitchen Klutzes--Me included! (It's contest time) by Connie Vines

Happy Saturday everyone.

It's June Contest Time!

Visit me @

https://romancegems.blogspot.com/2020/06/its-national-kitchen-klutzes-of-america.html

Liz Flaherty, Author and Guest Blogger!!

Liz, welcome to Dishin' It Out!

 Liz Flaherty is a USA Today bestselling author. She's also a popular Harlequin author noted for her heartwarming and wholesome romance novels, and she is rapidly becoming a hybrid author with her indie published romances.



It’s funny how some things change as you get older. Not all things are funny, of course—memory, hearing, joints, anyone?—but things in writing. In stories.


In my early days of reading and writing romance, not only did I need a Happily Ever After (which I still do), I needed it to be in the four-bedroom, two-bath house with a picket fence and a cat on the porch. And kids. Because that was, for the most part, my life. And I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Then I got older. My heroines did, too, and I met up with Women’s Fiction and had to concede that there was a new love in my reading life. I couldn’t get enough of reading about women whose stories were told differently. They fell in love and lived happily ever after, but their journeys were about much more than that. Their heartaches were about more than unrequited love. They were taking care of elderly parents, trying to raise teenagers without going completely mad, hoping to have more money than month―at least sometimes.

Were they all this way? No. But a lot of them were, and suddenly there were heroines I could identify with. My friend Nan Reinhardt laughs at me because I’m exhausted and bored by reading about rich people, but the truth is—just like when I wanted that happy ending to have the house, fence, cat, and kids—I want to put myself in the heroine’s place.

Even when I write and read Women’s Fiction, though, it always crosses over to romance. They are, actually, the same thing to me.

Enter Carol, who is a beautician. She owns her own shop, the Clip Joint, in Peacock, Tennessee. She’s not rich, tiny, or beautiful. But she’s a wonderful friend. A loving daughter. A generous person. Her life isn’t what she intended or even hoped for, but it’s good.

And then one day in the cemetery, Steven Elliot rides in front of her old Pontiac on a bicycle, and that life is changed forever.

I hope you like The Healing Summer.

BLURB:

It’s a summer romance--what happens come September?

When Steven Elliott accidentally rides his bike into Carol Whitney’s car at the cemetery, the summer takes on new and exciting possibilities. Long friendship wends its way into something deeper when their hearts get involved. Feelings neither of them had expected to experience again enrich their days and nights.  But what happens when the long summer ends? When Carol wants a family and commitment and a future, Steven isn't so sure. He’s had his heart broken before—can he risk it again?

Excerpt:

There had been other “hook-ups,” both during break-up times and since Promise’s death, but he had never given serious thought to waking up with anyone he slept with—at least, not on a consistent basis. No one ever asked or expected him to be faithful. No one called him her boyfriend. No one admitted they had to pee like a racehorse—it was as if the women he’d been with didn’t have bodily functions other than orgasm.

Not that exclusivity was a problem. It wasn’t at all. 

“I don’t need you to fall in love with me or promise me lifelong loyalty or any of that. I don’t even expect you to consider our relationship a…well, a relationship, but I’m not much into that kind of adventure, either.” She grinned sheepishly. “I know I sound like a prude, but so be it.”

He knew she was no prude. She was exciting and sexy and so much fun he sometimes he went days on end thinking he might actually be able to live without Promise. Not just exist, but live, with a large part of his heart intact.

“I want to be your boyfriend,” he said. “No class ring—I hocked it to buy beer when I was a freshman in college. But we’ll sit together at all the Little League games and the Cup and Cozy and I’ll even buy—if I have any money. When you’re taking care of Reese and pretending you’re not, I’ll pretend right along with you. What do you think?”

“I think you have your eye on my Mustang.”

“Nah, it’s too little—hurts my knees—though I probably look good in it. Not as good as I do on a motorcycle, but not bad. I’ll be an excellent boyfriend.” He lifted her hand, turning the chain he’d given her round and round. “Boyfriends give charm bracelets.”

“Well, since you did give me the bracelet and I love it, it’s okay with me if you’re my boyfriend. For the summer anyway.” She leaned in to kiss him, her hand on his shoulder, and he caught her wrist just to touch her. He loved her skin.

“You don’t think I’ll stay in Peacock, do you?” He held her gaze.

“No.” But she didn’t seem unhappy—not even a little bit sad. “You’re too—I don’t know—intense, maybe. You move too fast. No one does that here. You know that. Besides, you’ve been gone too long. Other than a few weeks some summers and the awful time while Promise was sick, you haven’t actually lived here since you left for Vanderbilt. And I don’t think you’ve wanted to, have you?”

She was right—until this summer, he hadn’t wanted to come back here. But that was before finding Miss Abigail’s. Before Jamie Scott died.

Before Carol.

“Dillon was away for years,” he said. “He didn’t even come and visit after his folks retired to Arizona, and look at him now. You couldn’t pry him off Lawyers Row with a crowbar.”

Carol shook her head. “Dillon came home and found Grace. Had she not been here, he wouldn’t be either.”

But you’re here. Steven didn’t say the words out loud. He was startled to have even thought them.

She checked the clock on the oven. “It’s time for me to go. I told Grace I’d pick them up at ten. When are you guys leaving?”

“As soon as everyone kisses his wife goodbye. I’ll follow you into town and kiss you at the same time so you won’t feel out of place or anything.”

She went to the sink, rinsing the coffee carafe and their cups and draping the dishcloth neatly over the sink divider. “That’s really big of you. You’re not going to throw your cell phone away or anything like they did in that movie, are you?”

He picked up her suitcase to follow her out the door. “Nope. Why? Are you going to worry about me?”

“Heavens, no.” She opened the Mustang’s trunk for him. “I’m not your mother.” She gave a little toss of her ponytail. “I’m your girlfriend.”


Bio:

Retired from the post office and married to Duane for…a really long time, USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty has had a heart-shaped adult life, populated with kids and grands and wonderful friends. She admits she can be boring, but hopes her curiosity about everyone and everything around her keeps her from it. She likes traveling and quilting and reading. And she loves writing.




Find her at: lizkflaherty@gmail.com and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlizflaherty/ and Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizFlaherty1




Buy links: 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X8DGPM6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i6

B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-healing-summer-liz-flaherty/1133411458

Google Books: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Healing_Summer.html?id=kj64DwAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-healing-summer