I’ve been a little overwhelmed on the home front, but didn’t want you to think I’d
forgotten about the Three Signed Books Contest. I’ll post the winner and a new contest on my blog tomorrow! ~DD
IDEAS
When I meet people and mention I’m a novelist, their first question is often, “Where do you get your ideas?” I’m absolutely shameless and will scavenge for inspiration everywhere. Sometimes I happen to overhear an enticing chance remark. Other times, I’m doing research for one book and find ideas for another. I love going to movies, and a minor character might spark my imagination in a completely new direction. A poet friend and I liked to sit in outdoor cafes to watch for people who’d make intriguing characters. When we’d spot one, he’d make notes for a poem, and I’d find a way to use him/her in a book.
One night we were in a restaurant and our waiter had a thick accent we couldn’t understand. We didn’t want to insult him and did the best we could, but he made a terrific space pirate who shouted orders his crew couldn’t understand and follow. I also like to observe the way people move. Some have a distinctive walk, and whether it’s a proud posture, or a lazy slump, I use it. Colin Firth leads with his shoulders, as an example. For fun, note how your favorite actors walk.
My February Retro Romance from Samhain, CAPTIVE HEART, is a Viking adventure I wrote after traveling through Scandinavia. There are wonderful museums there with beautiful thousand-year-old artifacts that provide excellent detail for a story. There is a museum in Oslo with the Oseberg ship found in a burial mound. It’s complete down to the intricate carvings and it’s a marvelous thing to see. There’s another Viking ship museum in Roskilde, Denmark. In approximately 1070, the five ships were sunk in the harbor to protect the city from invasion. They were excavated in 1962 and are displayed in a wonderful building right on the coast. Standing beside them, I felt an eerie sensation, as though the ships were haunted by the men who’d sailed them. I couldn’t wait to get home and begin a book where my hero and heroine sailed in a proud Viking ship bound for adventure and best of all, romance.
I’ll give a print or ebook copy of CAPTIVE HEART to someone who comments. It’s one of my most popular books, and a New York Times bestseller. I love to hear from fans, please send me an email:phoebeconn@earthlink.net or visit my website.
Comment
Great idea for this book..sounds like a great one! Thanks for sharing! 😛
Comment
I just love all these contest!! I am a contest junkie and a book junkie as well. lol
Comment
I love the cover for this book! I will have to check out how my favorite actors walk – I never thought of that before…lol
I would love to visit a museum with lots of Viking artifacts, I think it would be so interesting and fun! Thanks for the giveaway!
Comment
Oh the cover is gorgeous! I’m like Alisa (above), I ‘m a book junkie too ! 🙂
Comment
The book sounds really good. I am always looking for new authors to read.
Comment
Thank you all for your enthusiastic comments! I’m in California, so please be patient. I want to read everyone’s comment before I pick a winner.
Comment
I love Vikings as well! I’m hoping to make it to Iceland next year. Museums are always tops on my list for ideas.
Comment
I know, I love when people ask where you get your ideas.
If ya gotta ask the question, you’re never gonna be a writer!
Yay, less competition!
I’m like you, I snag ideas from EVERYWHERE. Todd, the elevator
guy with moppy hair that so needs a washing, who makes no eye contact, becomes the sad, forlorn brother of my hero Billy Blinker
in my story The Girl With Sand in Her Hair. We are so lucky to be
writers, aren’t we? Otherwise, we’d be such brats!!!
Comment
i love the cover, it’s gorgeous and i look forward to reading it.
thank you for the chance at such a great giveaway.
trvlagnt1t@yahoo.com
Comment
I always imagine an author as someone who always has the ON switch going at all times. I would love to read CAPTIVE HEART thank you.
Comment
Captive Heart sounds great. Love the cover. I like Viking books.
Comment
Sounds like great fun, looking for ideas with a friend at a coffee shop. I think getting the ideas is the best part, that rush of inspiration. And I agree with Mary, if you have to ask the question, you’re definitely not a writer. I’ve never had trouble getting ideas, its keeping up with them that’s hard.
Love the cover of captive heart, looks like a great read. I love a good viking and a boa.
Comment
Sounds like great fun, looking for ideas with a friend at a coffee shop. I think getting the ideas is the best part, that rush of inspiration. And I agree with Mary, if you have to ask the question, you’re definitely not a writer. I’ve never had trouble getting ideas, its keeping up with them that’s hard.
Love the cover of captive heart, looks like a great read. I love a good viking and a boat.
Comment
Thank you to everyone who commented. Delilah will announce the winner today and I’ll send your book. It’s wonderful to hear how many of you are excited about Vikings. You should see the current crop of men in Denmark. Drool.
Comment
Sorry to get here so late…for some reason I have had trouble getting into the website and the blog. I love the way you integrate real-life experiences into your stories. Thanks for sharing your inspirations.