Let’s get inspired by ‘Gone With the Wind’ and Stieg Larsson
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Today’s featured authors: Debra Holt, author of Under Texas Blue Skies, and Tina Donahue, author of This Time When We Touch. They’re talking writing inspirations and keeper books.
Debra Holt, author of Under Texas Blue Skies
Three movies/TV shows/ books or combination thereof that have inspired my own writing?
It is quite an eclectic mix. Gone With the Wind would be high on the list. The sweeping love story can’t be beat. Scarlet O’Hara was the ultimate feisty Southern belle. What female could resist the strong and sexy Rhett Butler?
Lonesome Dove is a classic and such an accurate portrayal of the type of men of the West who were “real men” with vision … they spoke more by deed than by words. They weren’t afraid to lay down their lives for what they believed in or for those they loved.
I would add Places in the Heart also. The female characters in the movie, Texans all, are written beautifully and are very strong in the face of hardships and tragedies.
The list could go on, with Steel Magnolias just as important as the other top three.
The common threads in all of these movies are deep abiding love, a steadfast belief in their dreams, and an inner strength that overcomes hardships and tragic circumstances to allow the heroes and heroines to continue to forge ahead and live their lives and shape a future for those to come. They are neither defeated nor bowed. Love may be just outside their grasps, but it doesn’t stop them from reaching for it and realizing that life is only worth living when you have your heart’s desire beside you.
About Under Texas Blue Skies:
The hero and heroine are of the “same cloth” as the characters portrayed in those movies. The hero, J.D. Sterling, is a young cowboy with little to his name but a talent and a huge dream to make his life better. Then he meets the heroine, Amanda Lawson, and one look into a pair of eyes the color of a clear blue Texas sky, he knows his heart has found its home. Life has its struggles for the pair and tragedy strikes. Apart, they each make decisions and choose paths that take them on a circuitous route back to their beginnings. Do they have what it takes to forge a new life together? It will take the rugged spirit of those characters who have gone before in great books, revered movies, and shared stories passed from one generation to another. True romance is always worth fighting for.
Find out more at www.debraholtbooks.com.
Tina Donahue, author of This Time When We Touch
Three books on my keeper shelves:
That would have to be Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. OMG, I loved every one of them. When I got to the third in the series and knew there wouldn’t be anymore, I actually read slower. I did not want the series to end. The subject matter that Larsson explored in the series was awesome. I love books that have depth and make you think, cry, get angry, pump your fist in the air, sigh in relief. While I was reading, I kept rooting for a romance between Salander (she’s my hero) and Blomkvist. They were so cool together. He got her — and trust me, she was hard to get. I was disappointed when they didn’t get together in the end, but in my mind I still see them hooking up as more than just friends. One of the characters in the books said to Salander that friendship was the most common form of love. A great line and so true. I still smile when I think about it.
Here’s the blurb for This Time When We Touch:
Fate has cruelly torn them apart through the centuries… Endless desire and unparalleled love will bring them together a final time.
Through numerous reincarnations, Jade Jacome has adored one man. His love for her has repeatedly led to her murder, always on the same day and time.
Jade’s scientific research proves this is their final rebirth, her last chance to outwit destiny and fulfill their passion. Against a backdrop of Brazil’s lushly decadent Carnaval, Jade has forty-eight hours to meet and tempt her lover, now known as Patrick Kane, then break fate’s deadly pattern.
Irresistibly drawn to Rio, Patrick senses Jade’s yearning that matches his. Seeing her again, time stops. Though they’ve never met in this life, he feels their connection, and that she’s in danger because of him.
Baffled and unsettled, Patrick resists his attraction to Jade to keep her safe.
In a contest of wills and shameless seduction, Jade must gamble all, even her life, before the anniversary of their first separation or risk losing Patrick forever.
Find out more at www.tinadonahue.com.
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