Nowadays inspiration gets me going. When I was young, the written word inspired me. I devoured books, thrived on learning, loved to take dares, even smoked cigars on the band bus, sorta like a wild child.
Compared to life then, my current life as a published writer is boring, but so much more satisfying. The dream of becoming an author has guided my life since those band bus days, but has only recently become a reality, thanks to the inspiration for my novels, idea that come to me right out of the blue. Take my latest release, Restored Dreams:
On the main street of the rural farming community of Lakeside not far from the city of San Diego, sits a well-maintained old Victorian house, home to the local historical society's museum.
The museum looks as if it was once surrounded by herds of horses grazing in fenced pastures, or perhaps a herd of contented cows. Now it's separated from the busy freeway behind it by a chain link fence.
If the house could speak, what stories might the old Victorian tell? I wondered, while driving by. Had the city fathers moved the house from some other place? Uprooted it and unceremoniously dropped it in the middle of town?
Seeing the old Victorian house inspired many what-if thoughts, eventually leading me to write Restored Dreams.
What if an untenured school teacher inherited a turn-of-the-century Victorian house needing repairs?
What if the great aunt who raised the teacher had good reason for never marrying and for not liking men, and tried to instill in her great niece the same fear and loathing?
What if a champion bull-rider-turned-contractor wants to help the house poor teacher? Think Bill Gates on a horse. This philanthropic-minded contractor has decided to give away the tainted millions he inherited, knowing this will make his successful but ruthless father turn over in his grave.
What if Treasure, the home owner, refuses all offers of charity? How will Buck, the hero, get around this?
Can he? Perhaps, because Buck is smart, personable, too, and in no hurry to move on to the next town. Lakeview's residents suffered the most from his grandfather's nefarious business dealings.
There. I had the setting for my novel, good characters with strong conflicts, but what were their goals?
In high school I was the quirky cheerleader who disrupted my classes with off-the-wall questions my teachers loved because those questions usually started heated debates.
What if Treasure has a student whose parents never show up for scheduled conferences about their son? Why did they have the boy if they care so little about him? Don't his parents realize their son is acting out at school to gain their attention, but is miserably unsuccessful?
She is beginning to believe some parents should never have been blessed with children, and her heart goes out to their neglected offspring. Someday she'd like to open her home to abused, troubled, and bullied boys for whom school is a nightmare. She'd give each one a colt of his own to care for on her four-hundred acres and work on building self-esteem one day at a time.
What if Buck came to Lakeview to reimburse the families who long ago suffered losses because of his grandfather's get-rich scheme. His grandfather absconded with the hard-earned savings the locals invested in his promised railroad. What if that same relative had proposed marriage to Treasure's Aunt Bee, then disappeared, leaving her aunt embittered where men were concerned? How will these feelings about men affect the young niece later placed in the woman's care?
Can Buck, a stranger, talk Treasure into letting him do the needed repairs to her home?
To find out, download Restored Dreams here:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-template/Toni%20Noel/Page.bok
Or here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Toni+Noel&x=13&y=20
Or from your favorite online bookstore.
And visit Toni at http://www.toninoelauthor.com/blog.html
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