The Link Between Inspiration And My Books
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Ever since I was a vague, dreamy, young girl, I have been blessed by God with an active imagination and I have often found inspiration for my writing in the ordinary, the everyday. A walk along the beach at Great Brak River one day as I watched swathes of foam collecting around my ankles gave me the idea for an unpublished story, Bubbly Foam Slippers.
I have been inspired in my writing on many occasions, like when I was living in Kwazulu-Natal, some boys at the side of the road pulling their wire carts became the inspiration for my Macmillan supplementary reader, Champion Cart Makers, while still another incident where two cheeky, restless boys rubbed together their shoes at a coffee shop resulted in my hilarious story, Squeaky Shoes also published by Macmillan.
Since I moved to Cape Town in 2013 and my focus has been to honour God in my work, I have found a rich source of inspiration in nature, in the Bible, and in thoughts, dreams and ideas inspired by the Holy Spirit. My story for young children, The Rainbow Game was born out of gazing at a magnificent rainbow which arched right across the sky from one end of Fish Hoek to the other.
Pondering on the amazing power of Jesus’ miracles resulted in me deeply exploring the gospels, in particular the miracles, and so my adult novel, Headlines in Heaven, was born. The exciting treasure hunt that is featured in my children’s book, Trees Full of Treasure, was inspired by my reflections on the real meaning of Christmas, where I'm telling children about the gifts that are actually of lasting value.
My highly imaginatively illustrated story, Modern Manna, was another occasion when I was inspired in my writing which came out of real life events, namely the food riots, in Kwazulu-Natal. Michael, the young boy in the story, is fed up, because the pastor keeps talking about manna being dropped from heaven, Jesus multiplying loaves and fish and other miracles. But the shelves in the shops during that time had been stripped of food; there is nothing to eat and he is very, very hungry. When he angrily goes to the pastor to complain, something completely unexpected happens: a modern miracle.
There are other things, like striking natural beauty, a friend’s story, an incident at a shopping centre, a biblical passage or verse, and something I may have observed, which have all led me to be inspired in my writing. Sometimes other authors’ books – both the content and the format – have given me ideas for my own writing.
I was trying to write a comprehensive non-fiction Christian book, a veritable tome, about the many different themes in the Bible, when I came across an adult book with high impact drawings and minimal text. This revolutionised my approach to the non-fiction book I was working on. It inspired me to summarise the major biblical themes through a series of conversations between four characters, a sceptic, a pastor, an angel and a young girl. Innovative line drawings and key biblical quotes greatly enhanced the messages I was trying to convey. I was delighted when I held the final product, the book Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts, in my hands for the very first time.
I so enjoyed working with this new format that I wrote a sequel, One Day and Then and Now, about the final day of judgment and rewards, heaven on earth, and the heaven which is to come. This second book was partly inspired by meaningful Sunday sermons at the church that I attend in Fish Hoek.
I’ve found it such an adrenalin rush to receive inspiration from all these different sources. I love it when the initial ideas for picture books, stories and novels start to buzz around in my head. But every completed project begins with a seed of inspiration. I hope you, my readers, will be excited to link your own ideas to written pieces, and that in time, these written pieces will become published books.
Happy reading and writing, everyone!