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As I progressed through my career, my inspiration grew from observing people in public places, overhearing little snippets of conversation and wondering what the story was before those words were spoken and what would come after. Often, a few lines from a song or something I’d read stayed with me for months or years.
When I was living in a crowded suburb of DC, I needed an escape from civilization as much as possible, so I bought some land in the West Virginia mountains and had a one room log cabin built on it. It was only about a two-hour drive from my home during the week, so I’d head out there every weekend I could. My dog and cat took the trip with me and my cat never failed to get car sick as we wove our way through the mountain roads.
Out in the sticks of West Virginia, there was only one radio station I could pick up, and it was country. My dad liked country music, so the tunes that were played reminded me of my childhood, and even though I hadn’t been paying much attention (after all, it was the dawn of rock and roll), some of the music I was now forced to listen to had sunk in, since what I was now hearing was very familiar. I grew my list of favorite singers, and Reba McIntire
That song stuck with me over the years, and every time I’d hear it on a Flashback Friday, I’d sing along at the top of my voice. When I began writing a story about a British courtesan who traveled to America during the Revolutionary War period to escape her past, that song floated to the surface of my mind, and my heroine, Fancy Booker, was born. I hope Reba will approve of the way I tell my heroine’s tale in the second book in my Revolutionary War Trilogy. Take a listen to the song here:
Becky Lower's new Revolutionary War series begins in 1777, not even a year after the Declaration of Independence was signed. The battle for our country's freedom had been simmering for years and was about to boil over. It was not a good time for young British ladies to be making their way to the country unescorted, but our country needed their grit and fortitude. And it's made for three wonderful heroines. Can't wait to share them with you.
Becky, my husband is from West Virginia, and as fate would have it, my dad got transferred my senior year in high school from Oklahoma to West Virginia, where I met my husband. THEN, he hubby went to work for the FAA (this was before we were married) and guess what? The FAA training center for all FAA employees is in...OKLAHOMA CITY!!!! So eventually he got a job teaching there and we came home to OK, where we've been ever since. I loved my time in WV and boy, it is totally different from Oklahoma but sooo gorgeous! When I was growing up, of course rock and roll was the rage, and my parents were "older" and liked the big band era/WWII music, so although we lived in Oklahoma we didn't listen to much country music. When I got to be in my twenties and we had a band, we had to learn country music because it was often requested. I love the Reba re-make of Fancy, but Bobbie Gentry wrote it, so that was when I first heard it (back in "the day")LOL It's an awesome song--tells so much in a very short few verses. I'm looking forward to your Revolutionary War series!
ReplyDeleteI've been enjoying this series much more than anything I've written recently. My women are so feisty and the young men who helped form our country make my heart ache. They were all so young and so focused, unlike today's political atmosphere.
DeleteCan't songs stick with you in a way many things can't? Especially when someone like Reba McIntyre sings. Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, C.A. I agree, most of the big moments in our lives can be connected in some way or the other to the songs we heard at the time.
DeleteLife has so many ways to inspire us, if we look. Great post. Thank you. Doris
ReplyDeleteYou're so right. It always amazes me when I get smacked upside the head with some inspiring event I didn't see coming. Thanks for visiting today.
DeleteA little log cabin in the hills of West Virginia will certainly soothe the soul after the noise and rush of D.C.
ReplyDeleteI think every fiction writer draws from their own experiences and the people in their lives. Music is understandably a great inspiration. I make play lists for each book I write and play it before I begin. It truly does inspire. I love Reba. Alyson Krauss is my favorite.
Hardly anyone writes in the American Revolution era. Good to see you do.
Loved your blog, Becky.
The Rev War has such great moments, it's been so much fun to research. Yes, it was dire, and bloody, but the courage of the everyday person is what I find so inspiring, and so lacking in today's politics.
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