Inspiration/Influences

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Another question people ask is where I get my ideas. A lot of them just come to me, but there are some specific things I do to get inspired. The first is something I have done since I started writing poetry in seventh grade. I love to be alone in a crowd. It gives me the opportunity to watch what people do, and how events unfold without actually being a part of them, which is exactly what a narrator does. Of course I do not know all the details of every situation I observe, but even seeing a small portion of one gives me a basis to create a story on. Nature is another thing that inspires me. Its everlasting beauty provides so many magical settings for fantastical events to take place. A few trees can easily be turned into a forest where trolls or fauns roam freely. The countryside may contain an abandoned house where fairies or wizards reside. A lake can be the home of a mermaid, or the domain of an ice queen. There are so many possibilities, and nature does its best to provide them to the open mind. Finally, I went to a classical music concert recently, and that is where the inspiration for my latest noval started. I never realized how powerful classical music was until it showed me a story. Since there were no words to tell me what the music is about, I had to make up a scenario myself. Classical music is so open to interpretation, and that is why it is so useful for inspiration. Fantasy has not always been an interest of mine. In fact, I really had no appreciation for it before I read the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling. They, along with C.S. Lewis, are my favorite authors and probably my biggest influences. I long for their ability to create places that are not just fantasy, but to so many people are reality. Their work continues to amaze me. I hope someday something I write will become as respected and timeless as the books they have written. "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J.R.R. Tolkien