My guest today is LoRee Peery. LoRee shares an example of how she received inspiration and employed it in writing Where Hearts Meet. LoRee is generously offering a PDF giveaway of Where Hearts Meet to one of this week’s commenters (9/17 – 9/23/2015). Be sure to learn more about LoRee and Where Hearts Meet following her post.
Also, note that Alzheimer’s Day is September 21.
LoRee: My latest release, Where Hearts Meet, is a romance. Deena Shores and Simon Hart meet at a memory care facility where Deena works and Simon’s mother is a resident.
image by geralt
A woman I’ll call Hattie is currently in a similar facility not far from where I live. Hattie touched my life and inspired me to write the mother of my hero.
Here are the basics of what I pulled from knowing Hattie for use in my story:
♥ Observing this woman showed me how to create Rose Hart’s character.
The connection with Hattie was the catalyst in giving me the idea of how to bring my hero and heroine together.
♥ What struck me most when I first met her, was the way Jesus shined in Hattie’s smile and through her eyes. She may have memory loss, but she’s never forsaken Jesus’ name.
That was the main characteristic I wanted to put in my story. The fictitious Rose Hart has Hattie’s heart for Jesus.
♥ During the writing of the story, I caught a notice for the grand opening of an Alzheimer’s care center.
I attended the open house to make sure neither the way I presented the care of fictitious residents, nor my setting, would dishonor dementia patients in any way. As I toured the facility, the Lord assured me He wanted me to write this story.
Suggestions
My suggestions for writers are to allow your writing to flow from your experiences. I hope you will glean a point or two from my experience to use in your writing.
- Always keep your mind open to the details in everyday and unique events. If something inspires you, jot down and file the details.
- Pay attention to the traits and actions of the people you encounter. Record their mannerisms to use later in characters.
- If you can, go to the places or similar locals of the settings in your story. Take good notes that will enrich your scenes and make readers feel like they’re taking part along with the characters.
- Be alert to, and record, applicable Bible verses for use in your story. Whether you quote them in the story or not, they will help guide your plot and characterizations.
♥ Go forth fellow writers ♥
- Pray for acute attention to enable future use of your observations.
- Take advantage of how life makes you feel.
- Write it down, and use it at the right time.
Suggestions for how to allow your writing to flow from your experiences. Click to tweet.
How have you used a life experience to enrich your story?
Thank you, Zoe, for allowing me to be your guest.
Zoe here: Don’t forget to comment for a chance to receive a PDF of Where Hearts Meet.
LoRee Peery is a Christian romance author who writes to feel alive, as a way of contributing, and to pass forward the hope of rescue from sin. She writes of redeeming grace with a sense of place. LoRee clings to I John 5:4 and prays her family sees that faith. She has authored the Frivolities Series and other e-books. Her desire for readers, the same as for her characters, is to discover where they fit in this life journey to best work out the Lord’s life plan. She is who she is by the grace of God.
Connect with LoRee through these links:
https://twitter.com/LoreePeery
https://www.facebook.com/LoReePeery
Are obedience and trust in God enough to keep Deena and Simon from chasing memories?
Shattered by the loss of her parents, Deena pours her love into her patients at an assisted living facility. When the son of one her charges starts showing up to spend time with his mother, Deena’s wary heart is warmed by his attention to his mother…and to her. Simon is plagued by his ex-wife’s disappearance years before. When he meets Deena, who closely resembles the woman, he fears his attraction is based only on Deena’s looks. But she exhibits a warmth his ex-wife never had. Dare he risk his once broken heart? As two lonely souls pursue a tentative, budding love, secrets and lies come forward to tear them apart. Can Simon and Deena overcome loss and allow their hearts to mend?
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Thanks for being a gracious hostess, Zoe. I appreciate your blogs and your guest posts.
You’re welcome, LoRee. I’m working on being more conscious of my surrounding and people. Thanks for the suggestions.
THANK YOU. That was an excellent post, and your book looks fascinating.
I’m usually doing those things but haven’t been careful enough to record then in a place I can find then when I need them. So my take away is to set up a system that will work for me, and be more intentional about writing my impressions, not just noticing and hoping it will come back to me. I have scraps of paper tucked in Bibles and files with scripture verses, title ideas, and story ideas but most don’t get used because I don’t have them where I need them, or I haven’t written enough to know what I intended.
Jane, I think what you said is true for me. I have sticky notes everywhere. It would be so easy for me to have three Notes on my iPad or iPhone: one for mannerisms or dialogue I encounter; one for interesting vignette’s of life events; and one for Bible verse’s that speak to my stories.
Thank you for defining the categories, Zoe. I think just having them there will make us more mindful in our observations.
Hi Jane, thanks for your comment. You’ll come upon your own way to organize. Zoe’s suggestion sounds great. Stickies were never my thing. I type up the notes from all the various scraps of paper as soon as I can and place them in a computer file. I have several three-ring binders and add the typed notes to specific projects, general ideas, topics, description, character, or a misc this-or-that to go though when I brainstorm, just because I need paper and pen when I do that. I would start with an idea file, marked with stickies or different highlighters or whatever. You will find what works for you, and don’t forget to delete what you’ve used.
Hi LoRee and Zoe. Enjoyed the article very much.
I have a WIP based on a real life trip that I took on horseback in the San Juan Mountains years ago. I have copious notes on how the guides interacted with us, the guests, how the grandeur of the high country affected my senses, and how the new experiences this Long Island encountered changed me. Someday, I’ll get it all put together into something that can be published – I hope!
I would like to be entered in the contest to win a PDF of Where Hearts Meet. Thank you for this opportunity!
Patti(dot)shene(at)gmail(dot)com.
Patti, what you recorded is pure gold. I hope you do find a story for it.
Hi Patti, thanks for telling us about you copious notes in the San Juan Mountains. I can see you using that as a setting for a good story. Brainstorm the characters and what brings them together–heroine and a guide maybe? Or a couple in trouble who try to pull things together by this trip away from their normal day-to-day. Best wishes!
Love your “redeeming grace w/a sense of place,” LoRee. Thanks for this post, so practical!
Aw, thanks so much. It goes back to my first contract when I noticed the signatures of other authors in their emails. I don’t remember if I prayed about it, but I brainstormed and that’s what I came up with. I’m glad you found my post something you can use.
The winner of the PDF for Where Hearts Meets is Patti Shene. Congratulations Patti!
I ditto Zoe’s congratulations, Patti. Hope you enjoy my story.