My World of Glass Inspiration

The most common question authors receive is where they receive inspiration for their stories. My own mother often tells me "I just can't believe these books are inside your head." I share the inspiration for My World of Glass often, but here it is for the blog:

The idea for My World of Glass came from nothing else than, wait for it, brushing my teeth. I remember one night getting ready for bed, during Christmas break, and I was brushing my teeth. I had finished working on another project that night and had been telling my best friend about the progress when Dessa walked into my mind.

Not only did she walk in, but she had Demetri with her. I knew their names. I knew what they looked like. I even could see the cement bunker they seemed to walk into. I heard Demetri tell Dessa, “Meet the Crew.” I heard him introduce each of them. Harvey, Bastien, Celina (who later became Celia) and Timber, Laura Lee and Amber, and Jeremy. I could see them all. I knew what made them tick. (I knew Harvey had a secret, and I knew what it meant for Dessa, but didn’t know what the secret was.) I didn’t know what they were doing in the bunker. I didn’t know why Dessa’s back hurt the way it did.

I remember running to my phone (toothbrush still in my mouth) and immediately texting my best friend “I JUST HAD THE GREATEST IDEA”. Of course, she thought I was talking about the book I was already working on. I instantly grabbed a paper and wrote down every detail I could think of and sent a picture of it to her. She instantly fell in love with Demetri (who wouldn’t?) and insisted I work on it.

The next day I wrote the entire scene (now in chapter three) and then started from the beginning. Within the very first scene I knew exactly what the title was. I knew why Dessa was in so much pain. I felt so much sympathy for this girl. I needed to tell her story. From the very beginning I knew I wasn’t writing this story for myself, I was writing it for someone else; for everyone else.

This book went through so many (six!) drafts. I cried over it, I got angry about it, I defended it like I would a child. It was amazing, it was terrible, it was everything to me. I started this story before I even had a diagnosis for what was going on in my life. Nothing about it related to my life, other than the pesky nightmares (so I thought). But after I was diagnosed with PTSD I recognized the symptoms Dessa had as well. It allowed me to go back in my first rewrite and explain, in depth, what was going on with me and Dessa. It allowed me to explain things I didn’t know I needed to explain. Dessa became my best friend in some ways, we helped each other.

When Demetri threw in the plot twist he did I remember staring at my computer, screaming, and asking my mom for the car keys. I drove straight to my best friend’s house, threw myself on her bed, and told her all about how her favorite character was making my life hard. I, the author, had been thrown a curve ball I did not appreciate.

Writing My World of Glass was an adventure. I loved every minute of writing it, rewriting it, falling in love with it, hating it. But I always knew I needed this book to be published. I’ll talk more about that another post, but I always thought I would “Traditionally” publish this book. I spent two years trying. In October, a month after I got married, I knew it was time. I had to publish this book. I threw 7 more offers out into the universe and when I still got no answer, I decided Independent publishing was the way I needed to go.

I look forward to sharing more secrets and behind the scene looks with you. Stay tuned! Subscribe! Know that if there is ever anything you want to see talked about on here I am all for it. If I can’t find the answer, I’ll spotlight someone who can.