By
Delsora Lowe
Ever wonder where writer’s ideas come from?
So do I! I
am what is known as a pantser or organic
writer. So most of the time I get a kernel of an idea—a character, a setting,
or a scene playing out in my head—and I start writing. I never know where that
idea will take me.
My newest hero, Sam, was established as a secondary
character in The Legacy of Parkers Point, book one, in the Starlight Grille
series. I loved Sam, so I decided he had to have his own story.
Logical
progression of the series meant Come Dance With Me would take place
in the winter.
I had written the first few chapters, when the title came
to me from song lyrics I heard as I commuted to work. Usually I agonize over
titles. Instead, the title had me envisioning the ending—a Christmas Dance—with
the hero and heroine in each other’s arms. In this case, the title, and the
ending, helped drive the plot, theme, setting, time of year, and character arcs.
At times, words seem to flow from my brain to my
fingers without conscious thought. When I reread what I wrote, I have no memory
of thinking about those words or scene. In this case, during the editing
process I realized many scenes evolved from memories of my high school dances.
Remember the romantic teenage yearnings of getting ready for a dance?
Here are some examples of where my muse took over by
conjuring up memories and turning them into something to fit the story.
· I sewed my own high school Christmas dance
dress, floor-length, maroon velvet, sleeveless, jewel-necked, slim-fitting. I
found out at a reunion that the guys still remembered that dress. My heroine
wears staid colors and classic designs. I am sure my muse decided at this point
that my hero wished to see the heroine in bright colors, and makes it happen.
·
My dad was a chaperone. He stood on
tip-toe the entire dance, tracking my every move. I remember ducking my head as
I slow-danced, praying any dance partners would not notice my dad. When one of
the star football players, one of a handful of blacks in our school, asked me
to dance, I nearly swooned. I had a mad crush on him. Later, when he asked me
to a rock concert, my dad grilled him in the front hallway—just like he did
with every date my sister and I ever had. In this story my heroine is a
chaperone and invites the hero to help chaperone. They also attend a rock
concert together.
·
A classmate of mine sent a poem to
Muhammed Ali and as a result got to meet him. My hero writes a jazz piece for
Muhammed Ali. As I wrote the scene, I had the Queen in mind, but my words
turned into Muhammed Ali right before my eyes.
·
Our school had recently integrated (a fact
I was unaware of at the time, and thought was the norm). There were a few
biracial couples. In my tight-knit, progressive, and accepting Quaker school
community, those who were in biracial relationships were accepted, but not in
the country as a whole. My hero and heroine are a biracial couple. Hopefully
the world has changed since I was a teen, but I know the truth—we have a long
way to go.
Add to the memories the impact of growing up in a city
where I had access to classical concerts at the Kennedy Center, and the influence
of the music culture of the 60s, including my love of Motown, jazz, and blues,
and you have the seeds for a story that germinated and grew as my muse took
over.
So I hope you enjoy Come Dance With Me, and
the excerpt below, where I have played with facts of my life to create a modern
fictional love story that culminates at the Christmas Dance.
Do
you have some stand-out memories of high school that might lend themselves to
being part of a story or a scene?
Here’s the blurb and an excerpt of Come
Dance With Me: Book 2, Starlight Grille series.
Improvisational jazz musician meets buttoned up
English teacher—will the Christmas lights sparkle or shatter before the dance
ends?
Sam
Johnson, a burned out, New York City iconic jazz pianist transplanted to small
town Maine, finds himself and his muse again through a disparate group of
committed teen musicians and their buttoned up, efficient, high school English
teacher who is roped into advising the afterschool jazz club.
Ashley
Sullivan, an expert in classical music and teaching the bard, is out of her
element when it comes to jazz or anything impromptu and desperately needs Sam’s
help. What she doesn’t know is Sam has made it his mission before this gig ends
to get Ashley to lighten up and enjoy the things in life she denies herself;
music, friends, spontaneity, creativity, and yes, love.
When
Sam works to rescue her from her
childhood fears, Ashley runs the other direction. Can what is done out of love
tear apart a relationship before it’s in full swing, or forever cement a love
that is true?
Excerpt: She watched his graceful
body climb the three steps to the stage. She sat close enough to see Sam’s
fingers stroke the keys. The notes swirled around her heart and straight to her
toes. Ashley closed her eyes and swayed to the slow, sensual rhythms. His tempo
eased from slow to fast. Her feet tapped out the beat, the sounds coursing a
hot path through her veins. The ebb and flow of jazz, like making love,
engulfed her entire being. She held close the urge to moan and sigh. Unlike the
night she sat with Mary Beth, now she imagined Sam played only for her.
To think she owned his
recordings, but never imagined she’d ever meet the man. His music had been the
one thing that made her feel alive these last few years, and now she knew
him…like a friend. He still scared the stuffing out of her. But not in a bad
way. She hadn’t expected him to like her, and treat her like a friend, when
she’d agreed to this after-school partnership. But here she sat.
“He’s something, isn’t
he?”
Ashley swiveled toward
the voice behind her. A petite, red-headed woman grinned.
Links to Come
Dance With Me (A Starlight Grille Book 2):
Books2Read – links to
various vendors including iBooks, Nook, Kobo: https://www.books2read.com/u/bMrQva
Links to The
Legacy of Parkers Point (A Starlight Grille Book 1):
Books2Read – links to various vendors including
iBooks, Nook, Kobo: https://www.books2read.com/u/b6rQzx
Links to Moonlighting
(A Starlight Grille Book 3): on preorder, to be released on December 7
Books2Read – links to
various vendors including iBooks, Nook, Kobo: https://www.books2read.com/u/mZ5eop
From Cabins to Cottages…Keep the
Home Fires Burning
A transplanted big city gal, world-wide traveler,
and foreign-service brat, who now lives in a coastal Maine town, Delsora Lowe
loves to write about small town heroes from the cowboys and ranchers of
Colorado to the game wardens and lobstermen of Maine. Her work in the
hospitality industry, rape crisis, admissions, alumni relations, and women’s
advocacy has allowed her to interact on a daily basis with real life heroines
and heroes. Lowe’s family visits to Colorado are the inspiration for an
upcoming contemporary western series in 2018. And her daughter’s wedding and
her son’s home on the coast of Maine provided plentiful ideas for the Starlight
Grille series.
Amazon Reviews for Book One: https://www.amazon.com/Come-Dance-Me-Serenity-Starlight-ebook/dp/B074N95RGK/ref=sr_1_8?s=amazon-devices&ie=UTF8&qid=1508776988&sr=8-8&keywords=serenity+Harbor
14 comments:
If I were to choose a high school memory that could be the seed for a story it would be the senior dance. We chose a dance over a prom. We didn't want the big to-do of dressing up but I'll bet a bigger one was giving people a chance to come and not be shamed for not having a date. Some nice conflict reside in those two reasons. You've got a a wonderful story. I look forward to reading it. Thanks for sharing. - Anna T.S.
My high school memories are all tied to my friends, so I suspect I'd have my characters before my story. :) Good luck with your book!
What a wonderful way to use your experiences to inspire and inform your story. I loved this personal sharing. Thanks so much, and here's wishing you mega sales!
Thanks, Anna - it wasn't until I edited this book that I realized where so much of this material came from. We had lots of dances where everyone came and most of us had no dates. Even when we were "going with someone", we danced with everyone. And truthfully, we had such a small class and school, that most people paired up with friends for things like the prom and we usually went in groups. I loved writing this book. I hope you enjoy it.
Jennifer - I agree. I'm still close with my high school friends. I am positive I channeled some of their personalities into this book and others. And thanks for sending good luck my way - I think that is what it takes :-) Lots of luck!
Thanks, Susan. I noticed in book 3 that follows Sam and Ashley's story, that I channeled my grandmother and sister - the artists in the family! So glad you stopped by!
Great blog. It brought back my own memories of proms. I was a high school teacher and attended y-e-a-rs of proms. It always amazes me where my muse takes me as I write. Your description of your book is too inviting—off to order it.
Judi Brett w/a Reece Brett
Judi - isn't the muse amazing? I'm always surprised by my characters. The fun part about writing off-the-cuff. The not so fun part is never knowing where I am headed, although I usually do know the ending :-) I hope you enjoy Sam and Ashley's story!
Deb, I have no big dance moments from high school (or anywhere). In fact for the senior prom all seniors were supposed to be presented. So my mom made me a long white dress and I went and sat in the balcony of the auditorium until it was time for the presentations. Then I went home. No big deal.My best high school memory is writing a fake advice column for the school newspaper. Supposedly, you have to take a business course to write for the paper, but the editor was a classmate. And yes, I've remained close mostly because one or two women keep the fires burning and a guy keeps an address spreadsheet.
That is a cool memory of your father. I'm looking forward to reading this story. Here's hoping you have LOTS of sales.
Interesting story line! Since I married my high school sweetheart, I have fond memories of the dances we went to together. From sock hops in the gym after basketball games to the senior prom. I'm smiling as I write this. I'm looking forward to reading this story!
SusanD - so cool to write a fake advice column in high school. That takes a lot of thought and creativity. Yeah, my dad LOVED chaperoning, coming to football games, etc. He always had a big grin on his face, even when standing on tiptoe trying to "spy" on his daughters at the dance. All my classmates loved him, including our dates (who invariably got roped in by my dad into changing lightbulbs or some such chore.)
I hope you enjoy the book!
Barbara, I married my high school prom date too. Although now divorced, we are still great friends. Always cherish those memories. And enjoy the book.
I really enjoyed your blog post! I read The Legacy of Parkers Point and really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading Come Dance With Me.
I have many high school memories. I'm not sure if any will make it into my stories. Those were the Happy Days times.
Diana, I can totally relate to the Happy Day times. Wouldn't it be fun to go back for a few days to that time? So glad you enjoyed Legacy. Hope you enjoy Sam and Ashley's story too!
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