Inspiration

You never know when inspiration will strike. I was hard at work researching various locales of England for my novel when I came across an interesting article by Beatrice Sant called "Wandering Down the Wye" (Realm Magazine, October 2006). Within the article, she briefly mentioned that Hay-on-Wye's castle was turned into a bookshop. Being an unrepentant bibliophile, I found that fact fascinating and instantly went into further research mode. Apparently, the entire town is devoted to books, literally millions of them, and has over 40 bookstores. My imagination went into overdrive, and I thought how I would love to work in a castle-bookshop. Hence, "The Earl's Enchantment" was born.

To the left, you can see a photo of the exterior of the castle, which Richard Booth revitalized when he purchased it. I think creating an original and vivid setting is essential, and with inspiration like Hay Castle, it makes my job as a writer that much easier.

Exercise for Writers

As a researcher, composition/literature professor, and writer, I find it helpful to try to keep limber (so I can keep up with all my grading and writing!). The exercises I find most useful to keep the mind-body connection strong are: Walking, Pilates, yoga, belly dance, tai chi and ballet. Classes are helpful, but I generally prefer using videos, since it's hard to make the time to find and attend a class. The videos below are my favorites: