#MondayBlogs 7 Things that #Inspire @shannonihayes @reginapaul

S.I. Hayes Presents

Authors Running Their Mouths is the creative brain child of Author S.I. Hayes Join her as she asks other Authors to let loose and Run their mouths!

Welcome Author

Regina is a Speculitive Fiction Writer. Let's see what she's got to say!

7 Things that Inspire This Writer

I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember and spinning a yarn is one of my most favorite things to do. As I’m sure is true of most writers, I get my inspiration from a lot of different things, and they aren’t necessarily the things you would think of. 

Here are 7 things that inspire this writer:

Dreams.

The nighttime ones. My book Alien Deceptions was created from a dream I had one night that made me ask what might be the reason for alien abduction, assuming it is real. I dreamed the basis for that book that very night, and while the book took me five years to write and has been through two different editions with the next one coming soon to Leap of Faith Publishing, LLC, it is still one of my most favorite stories. I had a blast creating this universe, and I can’t wait to write more books in this series.

Photos. 

I love to cruise the stock photo sites and look at photos. That old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words is so true, and I love to look at photos including very old ones from the days when photography was just getting its start. Once I find a really interesting photograph, I love to start playing the “what if?” game with myself. I’ve gotten some of my best story ideas from playing this game using my imagination.

Books. 

Like most authors, I absolutely adore reading. I have over 3,000 e-books on my Kindle and I’ve read the majority of them both non-fiction and fiction. What is fun for me as an author is when I read it sparks my imagination in other directions. For example, I especially love LGBT romance, gay romance in particular. And for no particular reason other than that I was inspired by a book where one of the main characters was a guy hiding from a mobster who had murdered his best friend. Said guy was in the witness protection program and was presenting himself as a woman when he meets and falls in love with his neighbor who is a gay guy. Needless to say after reading that book, my imagination took off in another direction. What would it be like for a woman to find herself in a male body? And thus The Last Jumper my gender bending scifi romance was born. 

Book Covers. 

Another favorite past time of mine is looking at book covers. The ones I like the best are the ones that don’t look like everyone else’s. It’s not uncommon to find me surfing google images for scifi romance covers, or fantasy romance covers, really any type of book cover for inspiration. Now one key thing about doing this is that I do not read the blurb for said book covers. I’m just looking at the cover and seeing if it triggers my imagination and they usually do! I purposefully don’t read the blurbs because I don’t want any story ideas I might come up with from the cover to be influenced too much by what another author wrote. I want my imagination to cook up something completely different, and as long as I don’t read the blurbs this works just fine for me, and has given me completely new story lines and ideas. 

Art. 

Another favorite of mine is visiting museums though I don’t get to do this as often as I might like. Of course you can also find all kinds of cool art on the internet and I’ve been known to look at it there too. The idea is the same as with photos or book covers, I look at the art and see what story it is telling me and then come up with a story line or idea and run with it.

Daydreams. 

Yes, I admit it, I have a very overactive imagination! Daydreaming is another favorite activity of mine. Laying out in a field of flowers, staring at the sky, or even laying on the floor in my home office and letting my imagination run while with daydreaming has brought about some of my most fun story lines and ideas to write about. 

Intuition. 

I’ve always relied pretty heavily on my intuition for story ideas as well. This usually goes along the line of I’m sitting quietly in meditation when a picture or an idea will just pop into my mind out of seemingly nowhere and abracadabra a new story idea is born!

These are by no means all the things that inspire this writer, but they’re certainly some of the top things. Of course I’m always looking for more things to inspire me! What inspires you whether it be in writing, or art, or whatever?

Thank you so much S.I. for having me here on your lovely blog today! 

Bio:

Regina Paul lives in Seattle, WA with her husband of twenty-seven years. A long time resident of the Pacific Northwest, she cannot imagine living anywhere else, although she would love to see more of the world, particularly Hawaii, Greece, Australia, and New Zealand, not necessarily in that order. 

Regina has several books available which include Alien Deceptions (out of print but will be back soon), No Place to Run, A Gift From Home, Lilly's Choice, Lilly's Christmas Surprise, Destiny's Choices, Destiny's Holiday, Through a Dark Mirror, Frost, Flame and Flower, and The Last Jumper. Regina calls her writing speculative romance because she writes across genres and heat levels depending on her mood.

When Regina is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, reading m/m and paranormal romance, which are her all time favorites, writing, painting, creating Native American beadwork and  3D art.  

Regina loves to hear from readers, so please feel free to e-mail her anytime. 

Facebook:   Website   Twitter

Buy Link: Amazon.



Thank you for joining me today!!

Cheers!

AUTHORS! WANT TO BE SHOWCASED?? FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW!

Authors Run Your Mouth Form

#MondayBlogs #WritersRunYourMouth Vol. 2 Rising up! @shannoniahyes @Writergirl74

S.I. Hayes Presents

Authors Running Their Mouths is the creative brain child of Author S.I. Hayes Join her as she asks other Authors to let loose and Run their mouths!

Welcome Author Cassandra Jones

Cassandra is a Multi-Genre writer. Let's see what she's got to say!

My Journey Into Writing

     My journey into writing started when I was 13. I had always loved reading and wanted to create my own stories to share with others. I had even taken creative writing and journalism classes in high school. I am always happy when writing.

     I realized being as shy as I was, that I could best express myself through writing. I started keeping journals that I could use as inspiration for my writing. I also keep a notebook of quotes as inspiration. Between the ages of 13 and 32 I had started over 200 stories.

One day in 2002 I decided to try my hand at poetry and instantly fell in love with it. Between 2002 and 2010 I had written almost 300 poems. Sadly in September of 2012 I lost almost all of those stories and poems in a fire.

     I didn't let that stop me from getting back on my feet and writing again. I just recently finished my first novel. It has been sent to the betas and is in the editing stages. I am currently getting together a book of poetry as well. I have written lots of poems from an experience with an ex best friend.

I've seen my publishing dreams come true when 2 of my poems were included in Vol 1 of Authors Against Bullying. It is an honor to be involved in something like this. All proceeds from sales go to charity. I have a short story in Authors Against Bullying Vol. 2.

Since then I have had poems and short stories published in several other anthologies for charities and one that is always free. They are Dark Fantasia, A Healing Anthology, Streetlamps To Starlight, Our Secret Nook, and Ghostly Writes Anthology 2017. The Tricks or Treats Anthology is due out later this month.

     I am working on stories for several more anthologies and my first novel. The Hunt For Amanda is a crime fiction novel. The main protagonist is named after and based on my best friend Tammy Perdue, who we lost in 2012. When Tammy is targeted by an ex co-worker she has to try and protect Amanda. When the man can’t get to her, he kidnaps Amanda to get Tammy to do what he wants. I am currently making changes to the novel and even adding some new scenes. It has been a fun story to write.

     I have learned that writing is my way to get through. Without writing I am nothing. I hope that through my writing I can help others as well. Participating in these anthologies has been an honor in itself. I am so happy to be able to help out these charities and even raise awareness against bullying and abuse.

     After being bullied by that ex friend emotionally for years and then dealing with a cyber bully, I am more than happy to help raise awareness to help others who have been through similar situations. No one should have to go through that. So I will continue to use my writing to help others any way I can.

     I hope ya'll enjoyed my journey into writing. Thank you so much for having me on your blog S.I. Hayes.

Bio:
I was born in Fairmont,WV and raised in the small town of Four States,WV. (Yes, that’s a real place!) I have loved to read since I was very young. At the age of thirteen I decided I wanted to try writing my own story. After taking Creative Writing and Journalism in high school, I began to love writing even more. I have won first place in two poetry contests and third place in a writing contest. I attended my first writer’s workshop in 2015 and another one October 21,2017. When I’m not writing, I can usually be found with my nose in a book.

I enjoy working on the family history and learning new things.I also love to spend time with family and friends. I have the best time at my book group called The Lunchtime Book Discussion Group that meets at our local library once a month.

Twitter:  Facebook:

Buy Link: Amazon.



Thank you for joining me today!!

Cheers!

#MondayBlogs A little #introspection for the #NewYear @shannonihayes #Booktrope #ramblings #Paranormal #Author

Why do I write what I write?

It's a good question, leading, but still when you look past the superficial airs that are contained in the thought it's really a very good question. Why do I write the things I do rather than strive for The Next Great American Novel...?

A break in the Silence #AmWriting #BiPolar #NoSleep #CrazyTrain @shannonihayes

Wisdom, Happiness Harmony

       These are the words that have sat before me for the past month or so. Little Dollar store framed caricatures  and a photo of a lost beloved pet. That there is my Grifialchial (Griffin or Mow, Mow for short). He died back in 2004 but I still miss him quite a lot. He was a beautiful and affectionate boy. Followed me around all through the house. 

I'm sitting here at 3 am with a shit tone of things running through my head, chowing down on a brownie washing it down with a bottle of water. Not sure exactly where I'm going with this post. Maybe it's the coffee keeping me up. Maybe it's the Mania, I'm not entirely sure, either way I'm writing something. Listening to my Pandora station, the songs are all poignant tonight. Songs like Cold (but I'm still here) from Evans Blue and Beautiful, from 10 Years, are hitting nerves...