Lara D. Elliott - Inspirations

Sofia perched herself atop the Ponte di Rialto and watched the lights dance across the choppy surface of the canal. There were a great many lights this evening, for the Palazzo Dolfin Manin was host to another grand masquerade. She dreamed of being invited to one of Lorenzo’s parties, but it was not her station. “One day, perhaps, that will be me twirling in a silk gown, hand in hand with my dear Lorenzo.” A door opened and music floated up to Sofia. She expected someone had stepped out onto the balcony to cool from dancing, but was surprised to see a couple emerge onto the sidewalk below. The woman giggled as the man held her close. Sofia longed for such romance. The couple turned suddenly and hurried up the walk. Sofia squinted into the distance to see the boat of several latecomers approaching the pier. “Ah, so they are escaping. Perhaps theirs is a forbidden romance.” Giggles approached the bridge and the sound of feet hit the stone steps. Sofia quickly backed ...

It's so exciting coming up with ideas for a new book, sitting down in front of that blank page with a world of opportunities before you. I've been studying plot structure and was having a hard time sorting out my Aria novel. So...I thought I'd try outlining the sequel to Aria. Okay, I know Aria #1 isn't finished yet, but I've been stalled and frustrated with it, so I figure a little break is fine. I don't want to spoil it. After all, you haven't even read Aria #1 yet.  But I will say we get to expand on Zed and Maddie in the next one. And Aria, of course. Much of the story will be set in the summer, rather than during the school year in the dead of winter like #1. I'm still debating how long to let the story go. Band camp? Homecoming? It's been a while since I had a blank page in front of me. Feels good.

Recently I had a bad week. I can't exactly express how bad it was without revealing everything that was wrong with it, but let's just say it sucked. I had an issue with my health. Bad. I had an issue with my job. Bad. I had an issue with my family. Bad. I was depressed. I was lonely. I was lost. I was angry. Part of me wanted to stay angry. Make a point. Show those causing stress in my life that they were destroying me. Get sympathy. I made a half-hearted prayer. "Lord, take my anger. Take my worry." I had obligations at work that I couldn't skip, though I sorely wanted to. Most inconvenient of all, I had a concert with my students. I had to stand up in front of hundreds of people and pretend that everything was okay. I dolled myself up then fought back tears as I drove to school. I hurried to be ready. I avoided talking to people as much as possible, merely answering questions and giving directions without chit-chatting. Finally, I crossed the front of ...

Step One: Admit you have an addiction to writing. Step Two: Drink coffee because no one can accomplish anything without caffeine. Step Three: Join a writer’s discussion group so you have an outlet for complaining about writing. Step Four: Make a list of all the reasons you should quit writing and then ignore them. Step Five: Complain on Twitter about your lack of sleep and then stay awake for another hour to see how many favorites you get. Step Six: Read blog posts by other writers about how they actually achieved success and then un-follow them. Step Seven: Ask your critique group for help on improving your manuscript but curse them when they insult your “voice.” Step Eight: Make a list of all the main characters you killed off and be willing to apologize for disappointing your readers. Step Nine: Write a blog post about your struggles as a writer and share it to Google Plus. Step Ten: Take inventory of all the rejections you’ve received and then ...

I live in West Virginia, USA and grew up in Maryland but I was born in Alice Springs, Australia. Alice Springs is in the middle of the desert, aka the outback. The famous Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) is nearby. You can typically find Alice Springs right above the letter "R" on a map of Australia, dead center of the country. I don't consider myself Australian, though people always ask. Also, I wasn't a military brat. My dad did some sort of government work that had us living in different places. My family left Australia when I was just a few months old, so I don't remember any of it, but I've seen pictures. When I was three, we lived in Garmisch, Germany. I have a couple memories of my older brother skiing in the Bavarian Alps. I studied German in high school with the intent of going back to visit one day. It's funny, I've probably seen more of Europe than I have of the US. In college, I was lucky enough to be able to go on several trips a...

And now she lay dying, ready to return to the earth from which she was created. “Dust to dust.” The rocky ground clawed away at her cheek. Rough crags gnawed at her bare arms. “I will feel pain no longer.” Frigid air washed over her trembling body, the sun departing along with it’s warming rays. “I will feel cold no longer.” Silence pressed against her eardrums, her staggering breath the only company. “I will be alone no longer.” A single tear escaped her lashes. “I am ready to leave this world. I have accomplished all that I can do. Take me.” Sudden calmness overtook her. Her senses shut out the physical world. Nothingness surrounded her. Weightlessness. Then a light. No warmth yet no cold. Just calm.   The light enveloped her. She felt no fear. More light. Calm. Joy. Awe. “At last.” Written in response to a picture prompt in my writing group. See the original picture prompt here:  https://500px.com/photo/170042881/born-on-mars-by-ciro-gal...

I'm not a speed demon on the highway, but I don't always abide by the speed limit either. A lot of times when I find myself in a hurry, a slow car gets in front of me and I have to sigh. "Yes, Lord. I need to learn patience. I'll slow down." This was not one of those days. I left work five minutes early. I leisurely rode in the slow lane. It's a good thing I wasn't in a hurry because halfway home, I got stuck behind a very slow merging vehicle that didn't seem to know how to accelerate onto a highway. Too many cars passing us for me to move over for a good while. When I got to town, the usual rush hour traffic, but I also hit every red light. Only two more intersections to go and I got stopped again. This time, a tractor trailer turned across my lane and was blocked from completing it's turn. I sat still at the green light while the truck inched forward. "Okay, Lord. I'm not in a hurry so this can't be a lesson on patience. Why are y...

Naming characters in a story can be daunting. There are so many names to choose from! There are plenty of blog posts out there about naming fictional characters. Many people use baby naming sites where you can search by nationality or name meaning. Below are a few of the more unique ways that I have named characters. Translate - I've taken the role a person plays in the story and translated the word into another language. For instance, "villain" in Czech is "darebak" which became the last name of an evil character in my latest novel. JK Rowling famously used Latin roots for many of the names and spells in Harry Potter. There's also Darth Vader. Spoiler alert! Vader=Father. Real Life - Okay, so this one isn't so unique, but I've named characters after real people. It's a great way to honor someone. One character in my novel-in-progress is named after a student who was one of the first to be supportive of my writing. She was a big reason I...