Jody Klaire

We saw a gentleman today who was sat in his car outside our local church. We’ve seen him a few times now so smiled and said hello. He told us that he was writing and that he visits the area for inspiration. We left him to his thoughts but it was nice to see someone else writing. Sound odd? I mean that, as an author, I work alone much of the time when I’m in the process of writing so even though I know other people do the same, I don’t actually see them.

Unlike a sports star or musician/actor (well, most industries) you never really see an author at work. You can watch chefs or tennis stars but you don’t get to watch an author. When your reading The Above and Beyond Series or The Renovating Hearts Series, you’re meant to be immersed in the story not thinking about me eating cake in my pyjamas trying to spell a word I really should know but doesn’t look right!
You’d be bored watching me call an injury time – out when I can’t feel my hands; laugh at my own jokes (it happens a lot) try to decipher my own handwriting (again, it happens a lot); say “I’ll be there now in a minute,” (Wenglish) because I’m just finishing a chapter only to take another hour… and get thoroughly distracted by trying to figure out if it’s a Coal Tit, Great Tit, Eagle… or a pigeon on my bird feeder, (I haven’t figured out the binoculars yet.)
Yup, I’m very glamorous. It probably wouldn’t make you feel in the mood for adventure if I told you I’d written a tense scene sitting outside the local supermarket and that the daring escape was inspired by a woman chasing her rogue trolley through the car park…
What I’m attempting to get at is how I enjoyed seeing someone enjoy the writing process as much as I do. It seems to be a picture many new writers have of writing a book: beautiful scenery,  you and a piece of paper as the words pour out and your creative genius is effortless. When they start to realise that, like any art, it takes study, hard work, madness, stubbornness, overcoming rejection and citicism and a thirst for improving, some feel it dampens the picture of what a writer should be.
I hope they soon get through that because I want to improve and grow, because I write whenever I can, a trip to the local shops becomes a breakneck rescue in a helicopter or that car park attendant giving someone a ticket becomes a reuniting of lovers. I get inspiration from most things because I love what I do and whether an author writes for themselves or as a career, I hope they are as inspired by the love of it as I am.

Big smiles,

PS – And don’t forget, if you like to read Aeron or Pip on paperback, you can pre-order Hindsight, (Aeron – Book IV) Best Maid Plans (Pippa – Book II) and even Noble Heart (Aeron – Book V.) I’m highlighting it as by pre-ordering, you let the folks in IPG know how many books to print so you don’t have to wait for them when they’re released… hurray!
PPS – I’ll be attempting my Spanish greeting for the website very soon!