Welcome to Read Self Published Month!

Happy April Everyone!

I’m so excited to be participating in Read Self Published Month! Throughout this month, myself along with a bunch of other fantastic authors will be hosting giveaways, blog takeovers, and all sorts of fun things. For more information about this great event, check out the Facebook page.

As part of this event, many of the participating authors are hosting blog takeovers. Yesterday, Zach Chopchinski started things off with an awesome post about his Gabrielle Series (check it out at http://zachchop.com). And today, it’s my turn.

Last November, I finally achieved a dream of mine. I published my first novel, Royal Thief. This story features an evil king, an enterprising thief, and a group of headstrong rebels. You can check out more information, as well as a sneak peek into the first chapter, right here.

I get my inspiration for writing from all sorts of things: books, movies, my own life, people I’ve met…you name it and I’ve probably found some sort of inspiration there. But for this particular book, I can think of two things in particular that had a profound effect on Royal Thief’s development.

First, there’s one of my all-time favorite musicals: Les Miserables. I remember sitting in my room, listening to the soundtrack for the thousandth time, when I got the idea for Amara. And if you’ve seen or listened to Les Mis (or read the book) you probably have a good idea which character inspired Royal Thief’s infamous criminal.

The second inspiration came from a childhood favorite: Eragon, by Christopher Paolini. When I was a kid, my mom got me this book because it had a dragon on it (and anyone who knows me knows my undying love for dragons, even as a little kid). Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it work to have dragons Royal Thief, but the Resistance was inspired by Paolini’s Varden. Ever since I read about them I knew I wanted to include a rebel group in one of my books.

What about you guys? What books/events/whatever have served as inspiration? Answer in the comments below. And be sure to check out the next stop on the Read Self Published Month takeover, K. Ferrin to see what they’re up to! Their website is http://www.kferrin.com