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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Unlikely Inspirations: Or how writers fake it.

by Chautona Havig · 3 Comments

Inspiration:

Oh, you thought writers are geniuses who write with creative inspirations and know exactly what they are doing?  You read “unlikely inspirations” and think, “What?”  Yeah.  Let me tell you.  I never know what will inspire me.  And yeah, I fake it.  A lot.

unlikely inspirations

For example, the other day I was writing at Denny’s.  You know, minding my own business.  When I overheard a server say, “So you want three but no murders?”  I blinked.  Instant explosion of ideas in my pea brain.  Seriously.  No joke.  I mean, I’ve got this new series brewing in my mind.  I work in Denny’s.  What about a mystery series that takes place at “D’s Diner” with amazing Angela?!  This could be cool here.  So I hear “three but no murders” and my brain instantly goes to “What’s Angela gonna do with that one?”  (For the record, it was “three build-your-own burgers”.)  It’s unlikely inspiration–a burger order in a restaurant.  But it sent my brain spinning with ideas.  The book could even be, “Build Your Own Murder”  Da-da-daaaahmmm!

front window alexaAnother unlikely inspiration came when we were visiting my mother-in-law in 2014.

We sat in her room, talked, my husband walked around, we still talked.  And we left when she got tired.  Mom lived in a wonderful assisted living place.  Really cool.  And her apartment looked out over the street where my brother-in-law goes to church.  Most of the other buildings around there (library, small storefronts, and even a grocery store) are very small.  But there’s one other building that faces Mom’s window.  That became the most unlikely inspiration of all.  A building.  That’s it.  Just a building.

Kevin and I went over to Applebee’s and had dinner.  While we were there, he pointed out something I’d not noticed.  Then he said something.  “Can you imagine if someone wanted to…”  Instant story explosion.  My “unlikely inspiration” became a full-fledged Hartfield Mystery—Front Window.

I’d planned for Two O’clock Slump to be the final book in the Hartfield Mysteries.  But something had niggled at me.  First, I created this fun character in Aunt Faye and really wanted to explore her some more.  But I couldn’t–not unless I wrote another one.  And then… well, in Speak Now,  I alluded to Alexa getting a new seamstress.  And well… that needs to be explored, too.  Doesn’t it?  So then what do I do?  I write another one.  And, of course, in talking with my inspiration for Laidie in Manuscript for Murder and Crime of Fashion,  we came up with another book featuring her.  Yeah.  That’s right.  Another unlikely inspiration.  What’s she doing now?  Orange jumpsuit couture?  White, padded hospital gowns with whitework embroidery?  Stay tuned.  Who knows what else will inspire me.  Snort.

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Filed Under: Writing

Previous Post: « Books for 2016: It’s gonna be a prolific year
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Comments

  1. Marylin Furumasu says

    March 24, 2016 at 9:07 am

    Chautona,
    I’ve totally enjoyed your new post. Just getting into your brain would be so fun! Thanks for sharing about how stories come about. I’m not sure I could stand having all those characters in my brain talking all the time.
    As for the two Agencies……Yay! I love when there’s corrections in books..

    Reply
  2. Lindsay says

    March 24, 2016 at 7:32 am

    Good! I really hoped you’d explore the character Aunt Faye more! I like her. I also really wanted to see more about Alexa getting her new seamstress. So I’m glad you’re writing more about those! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Eileen says

    March 24, 2016 at 5:29 am

    I wondered about that connection way back when I first read Speak Now.

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
byChautona Havig

Debut Author, Sara Brunsvold, is bursting on the Christian Women’s fiction scene with an amazing book, The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. With characters who have captivated my heart from page one (and enough quirkiness to keep my attention to the last), Sara Brunsvold is sure to become a favorite author, and this book is already on my top five of the year before it’s even released!

Note links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This Novel Isn’t Even Available Yet, and It’s in My Top 5!

If you’d told me that I’d fall so in love with two chapters of a book that it would push that book into my top five of the year so far, well… I’d have laughed.

The joke’s on me because it happened with Sara Brunsvold’s The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. This debut women’s fiction novel has a bit of a split-time element and is set in Kansas City. Trust me when I say that meeting Clara was one of the most fun introductions to a character I’ve ever had. I just love this woman, and I’m drumming my fingers to get to read more about her.  Not surprising considering it won the ACFW Genesis’s award a couple of years back. 😀

Sara says her passion is intergenerational stories, and you definitely get this with Aidyn and her “assignment,” Mrs. Kipp.  But you also get inter-cultural and ideological influences in this book as well.

And then there’s that next book she has coming out.  You know, the one about a gal cooking her way through her grandma’s German cookbook?  Yeah.  The one we have to wait until early 2024 for?  Yeah. That one.  Sigh.

When Sara told us about her favorite authors, a lot of things made sense.  Just sayin’. Find out which of Katherine Reay’s books are her favorites and how she fangirled over Reay’s response to an email (and why you should email your favorite author!).

The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care.

But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her–but she’s going to have to work for it.

Debut author Sara Brunsvold delights with this emotional multigenerational story that shows that the very best life is made up of thousands of little deaths to self. You’ll want to be just like Mrs. Kip when you grow up!

This book is 40% off with free shipping from Baker Book House. That’s less than the Kindle version if you like paper!

You can learn more about Sara at her WEBSITE (and sign up for that newsletter so you can get Mrs.Kip’s 8 Rules to Live By). Oh, and if she does those videos of her cooking through that book, you’ll want to know when/where to find them.

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Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
May 20, 2022
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Reposted from @beckylewis345 Life can be hard. Ent Reposted from @beckylewis345 Life can be hard. Enter cozies like A Sprinkle in Time by Dana Mentink. Clean, with a sweet romance, whose amateur sleuth runs a delectable shake shop. A dog, a child, precocious twins who work for the shake shop, and lovable Papa Luis. Plus, of course, plenty of suspects. “Murder, mayhem, and milkshakes. Who’d a thunk it?”

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I enjoy the inclusion of dogs, children, and special-needs people, and Dana Mentink brings them all to our Shimmy and Shake Shop story. Noodles is old, but what a loyal companion, and, wow, does he have an amazing ability or two! Little  Felice adds warmth and vulnerability to the tale. Doug, the special-needs brother of Trinity’s love interest, Quinn, adds reality and complexity to the novel. 

Mentink has a good sense of humor and I laughed out loud several times. Just what I want out of a cozy. Mystery, romance, great characters, laughter. A fun occupation that the sleuth actually works at. I am happy to report I made it through the book without indulging in ice cream! But, can you?

I am looking forward to more murder and mayhem in Upper Sprocket! Plus more Freakshakes! 

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I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. (I also bought my own copy.) No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.
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Reposted from @celebratelit Did you know that When Reposted from @celebratelit Did you know that When the Pilot Falls by April Hayman from the Ever After Mystery series is 25% off with the Celebrate Lit Summer Sale? 

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A bear of a man, Hugh Taylor, needs a stunt plane pilot, and despite their rocky introduction, Willie sets off for golden California and a new life as his pilot. There’s just one little thing she has to do in addition to flying.

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Dial W for Wrangler: Vi's just trying to sell used Dial W for Wrangler: Vi's just trying to sell used recliners and old, broken wagon wheels.  She can't help it if folks keep asking for help with their love lives... can she?
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