Inspirational Photos for the Mason Siblings Series

It has been a long time since I have posted, and I thank you all for being so understanding! 

Whenever I create a new character in a novel, I always find a picture that inspires me, first. Since I have just finished writing my last novel in the Mason Siblings Series, I thought I would share with you the photos that inspired me to write each character. I have captioned each picture with the character they inspired and the novel their character "starred" in.

Miss Annabel Bradley from Book 1: Love's Misadventure

Lane Mason, seventh Earl of Devon, from Book 1: Love's Misadventure

Charles Bradley from Book 2: The Trouble With Love

Lady Charlotte Mason from Book 2: The Trouble With Love

Barrick Gray, Marquess of Withington, from Book 3: Love and Deceit

Lady Katherine Mason, from Book 3: Love and Deceit

Dr. Simon Claridge, heir to the Earldom of Merrington, from Book 4: Final Battle for Love

Lady Emaline Mason from Book 4: Final Battle for Love

 I worked with both families closely, as you could probably tell. Charles Bradley and Annabel Bradley are brother and sister, and both marry into the Mason family.

At a later date I will post the inspirational pictures for the additional side characters. Many of the spies that are seen in these novels will have the lead in their own novels in my upcoming Seductive Spies series.

Thank you for reading!

Something British Monday #8 - British Scenery

One thing that I find wonderful about my writing taking place in Great Britain, is the lovely scenery that comes naturally with the location. I greatly enjoy searching the internet for the perfect inspiration for each scene in my novels.

The picture to the right, with the beautifully coloured trees and the small cabin, was the inspiration for one of the locations in my second novel, The Trouble With Love. Beautiful, isn't it?

I find these two to be very mysterious. I could just imagine a couple running through this forest, and ensconced in this castle.

I think I'll put these two in future novels. The scenery is simply lovely.

These two winter scenes are the inspiration for the home of the Marquess of Withington in my third novel, Love and Deceit. At least half of the novel will take place in this massive home and on its grounds.  What do you think?

Do you like the scenery in Great Britain as well?

When Inspiration Strikes

A few mornings ago I was woken up at 5:30am by my husband as he was leaving for work. Needless to say I was exhausted and promptly turned over and tried to fall back to sleep. But I couldn't. My mind would not turn back off once it had turned on. I simply could not stop my thoughts from running though everything... from what I had to do that day to what I should have done better the day before. Then suddenly it hit me! A new plot for a new novel.

Surprisingly, I had not been thinking of anything remotely similar to the plot that suddenly occurred to me. It was entirely a fluke.

Later that day I was doing the dishes and listening to some music when I was hit again! It must have been the lyrics that put the plot in my mind, but for the second time that day I had thought of a new outline for a novel. That adds up to 8 total plotlines floating around in my mind and outlined in my notebook.

Those two occurrences got me thinking of all the circumstances in which I find inspiration. It can happen while you are performing an ordinary task, such as my washing dishes, or it can come to you when you are doing research, watching a program on TV, or observing people in the foodcourt at the mall. I have found inspiration in many odd places.

I have likewise suffered from a lack of inspiration. I have sat staring at my computer screen with my hands poised above my keyboard, just waiting for the right word, right sentence, right anything to pop into my head... but nothing would come. It is times such as those that I believe walking away from  your project will help your mind work. Go for a walk, watch a program on TV, ride a bike, or do some household cleaning. Eventually the right thoughts will occur to you.

Have you ever suffered from a lack of inspiration? What did you do to make it come back? Where is the oddest place you have been inspired?