Hi Everyone!
Just stopping by today with a Guest Post from an author, Calista Lynne. She reached out to me to help with getting the word out about her book and provided me with the answer to the question that I love to ask....what made you write this book? Below is a guest post representing her thoughts.
Please help me welcoming her!
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Writing from Life
or Where The Hell Did This Novel Come From?
By Calista Lynne
I like to
say that I used up all my life experience in my first novel. At the time, it
seemed like I squeezed everything from my teenage years into a story and would
never have anything to write about again. While writing purely from imagination
is fantastic in theory, it’s practically impossible in action. I don’t know of
any fiction authors who don’t litter their stories with real life occurrences,
even if they are skewed and exaggerated to suit an elevated plotline. It’s part
of the reason why I use a pseudonym and am wary of people I know reading my
novel. They might look at my character sitting around in a hotel in Baltimore
and remember the times I visited the city with my parents growing up. This is
where the argument of whether authors should be held accountable for the
unwelcome opinions of their characters comes into debate, but that’s a
completely separate issues.
We Awaken is about two female asexuals
in a same sex relationship, one of which is a creator of dreams. Obviously I am
not, nor have I ever met, someone who could be likened to the sandman, but
still there are a lot of scenes in the story that I plucked out of my life
growing up. From songs played in cars to places visited, many of the backdrops
to scenes are very much places and events I have witnessed firsthand. My other
inspiration was the fact that I wanted to write the representation I wanted to
read growing up and hadn’t seen much of in literature up to that point.The only issue is, up until the
book was written I always felt as if I hadn’t lived very widely. My heart was
on those pages and I had nothing left for future pieces.
So I got on
an airplane and crossed an ocean at the age of 17 to live in London all by
myself. Okay, so I was a week away from turning 18, but it was definitely an
interesting knee-jerk sort of reaction to feeling stifled by suburbia. Now I
have inspiration thrown at me from all directions and it’s almost too much.
Here are some things I did in my first few months of being British:
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Accidentally end up in Essex trying to get to Ikea
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Be a featured extra in an upcoming British rom-com
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Work for both a magazine and a theatre
●
Take- and do poorly in- clown classes
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Overhear kilted bagpipers trash talk one another in a
pub
●
Pay frequent visits to a man who plays a tuba which is
actually a flamethrower
Of course I
do much more than this, but these are a few incidents that stick out in the
mind as being particularly interesting. So if you look in one of my future
novels and see a character wandering Essex confused, asking which part of
London it is because they just want to buy some damn sheets, know that it
probably isn’t as fictional as the genre would have you believe. Being an expat
is loads of fun and it’s always interesting to be the Token American even if I
have difficulties with British sarcasm and figuring out what a courgette is.
I’m not sure if I’ll stay in Europe forever, especially considering the state
of my visa, but for now I have the Shakespeare Globe and Cadbury chocolate and
everything is alright.
If you’re
interested in reading about the antics of the ladies loving each other in my
first novel, here is the synopsis. Good luck trying to spot where my
inspiration came from:
Victoria
Dinham doesn’t have much left to look forward to. Since her father died in a
car accident, she lives only to fulfill her dream of being accepted into the
Manhattan Dance Conservatory. But soon she finds another reason to look forward
to dreams when she encounters an otherworldly girl named Ashlinn, who bears a
message from Victoria’s comatose brother. Ashlinn is tasked with conjuring
pleasant dreams for humans, and through the course of their nightly meetings in
Victoria’s mind, the two become close. Ashlinn also helps Victoria understand
asexuality and realize that she, too, is asexual.
But then Victoria needs
Ashlinn’s aid outside the realm of dreams, and Ashlinn assumes human form to
help Victoria make it to her dance audition. They take the opportunity to
explore New York City, their feelings for each other, and the nature of their
shared asexuality. But like any dream, it’s too good to last. Ashlinn must
shrug off her human guise and resume her duties creating pleasant nighttime
visions—or all of humanity will pay the price.
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Author Bio:
Calista
Lynne grew up on the American East Coast and is currently studying in
London. She is having difficulty adjusting to the lack of Oxford commas
across the pond and writes because it always seemed to make more sense
than mathematics. Look for her near the caffeinated beverages.
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