Please join me in welcoming National bestselling author Julie Kenner to Mama Writers today!  She’s talking about Kids and Inspiriation:  Thinking Inside the Box

julie_kenner2_thumbJulie Kenner’s first book hit the stores in February of 2000, and she’s been on the go ever since, with well over twenty books to her credit. Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations,” Julie’s books have hit lists as varied as USA Today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and Locus Magazine. Julie is also a two-time RITA finalist, the winner of Romantic Times’ Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Contemporary Paranormal of 2001, the winner of the Reviewers International Organization’s award for best romantic suspense of 2004 and best paranormal of 2005, and the winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award for best mainstream book of 2005. She writes a range of stories including sexy and quirky romances, young adult novels, chick lit suspense and paranormal mommy lit. Her foray into the latter, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, was selected as a Booksense Summer Paperback Pick for 2005, was a Target Breakout Book, was a Barnes & Noble Number One SFF/Fantasy bestseller for seven weeks, and is in development as a feature film with Warner Brothers and 1492 Pictures. Julie lives in Georgetown, Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and several cats.

img_0475-julie2I’ve learned a lot from my two girls, Catherine (8) and Isabella (6).

I’ve learned that there really is a limit on how many times you can listen to the Very Same Song over and over and over without tossing your sanity out with the trash.  I’ve learned that rolling down the window and howling can be fun.  I’ve learned that monsters can be banished with two squirts of lavender perfume (aka Go Away Monster Spray) in the closet, one under the bed, and one on the butt.  I’ve learned that nothing makes me smile like “I love you, Mommy.” demon-ex-machina-julie4

 And I’ve learned about honing in on story ideas.

 My demon hunting soccer mom series (Carpe Demon, etc.) features a suburban mom with two kids, and toddler Timmy was definitely based on Catherine early on (I started writing the series when she was about 18 months old).  We adopted Isabella at age 3, and she took over the role of Timmy inspiration in later books (my kids age faster in life than those poor characters in the book, who just aren’t growing up very fast!).

 

And even my most recent release, The Blood Lily Chronicles, stems in part from my tainted2-julie1kids.  Not the chasing demons and killing them part (although you should see these kids tear around the house), but the fact that these two girls are tight.  Best buddies.  It’s something I didn’t have as an only child, and although Lily’s relationship with her sister Rose isn’t exactly the same as my girls’ relationship to each other, there are hints and peeks and bits of inspiration hiding under there. The Box, which I swore was going to the curb New Years Day, is still in their room–taking up most of the room–still generating new games, new worlds, new plots for a kid’s imagination. It’s ordinary, but they made it special.

But that’s not actually what I mean when I say that the kids have taught me about story ideas.  Let me explain.

 

For the most part, coming up with an idea isn’t an issue for me.  I’m the girl with a box, a computer file, a yellow pad, and a dozen post-its all full up with story ideas.

 

img_0021-julie3The interesting thing, though, is that when it comes time to write a proposal to submit, I rarely go to that well.  Instead, I’ll come up with something entirely new.  Why?  Because the ideas in my Idea Pile don’t spark.  They’re ordinary.  They’re plain.  They’re okay, sure, but nothing special.

 

Hmmm. Maybe I need to pull out that  box of ideas and see what I can come up with by twisting something ordinary and making it shine. .

 

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Julie Kenner is the author of a whole bunch of books including the Kate Connor Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series and the new urban fantasy Blood Lily Chronicles. Leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of TAINTED, the first book in he trilogy! Visit Julie online at www.juliekenner.com