Enchanted Orb with Nicole Murphy

Nicole Murphy is the writer of science fiction, fantasy, erotica and romance stories. Today she shares her thoughts on Having an Inspired Life.

Having an inspired life with Nicole Murphy

 

 

It’s what we all aim for – an inspired life. That is, I think, a life that excites us. A life that fills uwith anticipation and hope and wonder and delight. One of the reasons that we read, and some of us write, is because the dreams and adventures to be found between the covers of a book are inspiring.

But that want for inspiration can be drowned out by the stresses of life. Work stress. Relationship stress. Financial stress. Vacuuming stress. Oh, the stress of vaccuming… Even writing, which should be such a joy, hits moments of stress and then the inspiration is hard to find.

What can we do, when those times hit us, to find the inspiration again? It’s something I’ve been wondering about lately. 2015 has started busy, and it’s just going to get busier. So I’m trying to work things out, make decisions now that will hopefully help me continue to be inspired even when things get ridiculous.

So I’ve been doing a bit of research, and here’s some of the things that come up regularly in terms of having an inspired life:

Meditation – apparently you don’t have to do masses of it, but five minutes every day can make a huge difference. Not only does it help settle your thinking, it also opens your mind up.

Planning – I know, that sounds absolutely ridiculous, doesn’t it. But here’s what I’ve found – having a weekly plan, where you work out what you’re doing when (both in work and in your general life) actually frees you up. When you enter a time period knowing what you have to do, there’s no mucking around. You just do it. And when you start planning things out, you might find you’ve got more time than you thought you did. And don’t just plan work. Plan your social life. Plan down time.

Have new experiences – being open to new experiences often results in inspiration, not the other way around. So have a look at the year coming up and work out some new experiences you can have, to blow out some of those cobwebs. It can be as simple as trying a food you’ve never done before, to setting yourself a challenge such as learning to play a musical instrument.

Expose yourself to inspiring people – one of the best ways to become inspired is to interact with people who are inspiring. Luckily, in this day and age, we’ve got the opportunity to hear from thousands of inspiring people for free through the TED talks. So why not make finding a TED talk part of your weekly plan, and then give yourself time afterwards to think about it? Or watch it with a loved one, or friends, so you can discuss it afterwards.

Get outside – with computers and phones and tablets and televisions and airconditioning, it’s so easy to stay inside all the time. But for starters, you can miss some all important sunshine that way. And when you do go outside – stop and look around. The old saying ‘Take time to smell the roses’ is so, so true. Except that most modern roses have had the smell bred out of them which makes you wonder why they even exist. But there are other things that smell nice too. Or sound nice. Or feel nice on your skin.

Celebrate your accomplishments – even if they seem small. It’s so much easier to feel inspired when you feel accomplished, and capable. So figure out a way to celebrate everything you do and do it. Even if it’s just to throw on a song and dance like a wild person in your loungeroom. Celebrate!

I’d love to hear ideas you’ve got about ways to become inspired. Let’s building a repository that all of us can refer to during those moments when even when the sun is shining it feels like the world will be forever dark.

Nicole's latest release is Winning the King:

 

About the author

Nicole Murphy writes urban fantasy and science fiction romance, while her alter ego Elizabeth Dunk writes contemporary romance and erotic. Nicole’s latest release is ‘Winning the King’, book two of the Jorda series of science fiction romance. You can buy it here: All Romance ebooks / iTunes / Amazon US / Amazon UK /Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Amazon Aus

 

Good News Day

Welcome to this week's good news....

coming to you this week by Nicole Murphy

BOOK RELEASE

Congratulations to Fiona Greene on the release of her contemporary romance Home for Christmas, from Escape Publishing.

What began as an impersonal, but cheerful holiday gift for a soldier far from home becomes so much more…

Sergeant Tate McAuliffe, stationed in Afghanistan, opens his Christmas care package from Australia and is stunned by both its contents and the sender. Fun-loving Christmas tree designer Layla Preston is a breath of fresh air for loner Tate. Although they’ve never met, their email friendship quickly develops and their feelings for each other deepen.

But Layla knows the heartache that loving a soldier can bring and when Tate is injured, her deep-seated fear drives them apart. With their relationship in tatters, can Layla and Tate work through their differences, so Layla can welcome Tate home for Christmas?

Buy links available at the Escape Publishing website.

Read more about Fiona at her website.

Enchanted Orb with Nicole Murphy

Writers find inspiration in the strangest and most interesting ways. Today we have multi-genre writing author, Nicole Murphy sharing with us the inspiration behind her latest flood of books.

Over to Nicole...

 

I’m in the middle of a busy twelve months. Four books coming out. FOUR! Since one of them is a collection of four novellas, that’s actually a total of seven stories. And while the novellas and the three other books are linked, they’re also all very different. So what’s my inspiration for them all?

Release is the title of the collection of paranormal erotic novellas. Not only is it a great name for a collection of erotica, it also in one word sums up the overarching story. Four spirits, trying to find release from the eternal punishment they’ve been given for their earthly sins. The idea to link them all together came during the writing process. The first novella was written a couple of years ago, and I was having problems selling it. Then came the idea for a second novella, that would also be about a spirit. From there, I developed all four spirits – the spirit of the house, the spirit of the beach, the spirit of the field and the spirit of the office – and started to write the other three stories. As they developed, it was the last story – the spirit of the office – that made me realise how linked the four stories were.

The final story is really different to the other three, in that this time it isn’t the spirit who needs to help and heal a woman, but the woman who needs to help and heal the spirit. I had to think about why the spirit was in this situation, who he was, and why it had to happen. From that came the link that I think took the collection from four erotica stories to something really open and honest and heartfelt.

The other three books are a science fiction romance trilogy, called the Jorda series. The inspiration for the first book, Loving the Prince, goes back 30 years. Yep, count em – thirty. I was in Year 9 at high school when I first conceived of Cassandra, her family, her love interest and her world. The inspiration – one Princess Leia Organa, from Star Wars. I wanted to write a kick-arse space princess too.

Cassandra’s changed a lot over the years, and so has the story. The big issue I had was finding the right story for her – I started and discarded a lot over the year. She started out almost Luke Skywalker-ish in her desire to dash in and have an adventure. She still has that tendency, but now it’s the aspect that gets her into trouble and it’s up to her lover, Kernan, to try and keep her chilled, before she destroys everything.

I’d always thought that Cassandra’s twin sister, Diana, would be the heroine of her own story, but the real moment Diana came to life was when I was at some markets at the end of last year, and someone was selling this beautiful hand-made jewelry. They’d learnt to smelt and mould silver and the works were unique and fascinating and it came to me – that’s what Diana needed. A passion that would drive her as much as Cassandra’s dedication to work and family drove her, and that passion would be jewelry making.

The third book in the trilogy will conclude the storyline begun in Cassandra’s book, and made horrible and heinous in Diana’s. It features a heroine that up until January 6 this year was never going to be the heroine of a book. But then I was talking to my publisher, and she said ‘You know whose book would be great? Plissa’s…’ and I said ‘Ooooh, interesting’ and my fate was sealed.

Plissa Waltric was supposed to be nothing but Cassandra’s nemesis. In fact, originally she was a he – Grant Waltric. Honestly I just changed the name, the ‘he’s to ‘she’s, polished a few things and Grant became Plissa. But my publisher was right – she was fascinating, and I loved the challenge of making someone like her, who comes across in the first book as just awful, as the heroine in a romance.

So that was my inspiration for the last book – the challenge of making it work. And it’s turning out to be a hard book to write, but an interesting one and I’m having a ball.

So there you have it – inspiration can come from all directions. It can come from your writing itself. It can come from your favourite movie. It can come from a visit to the markets (which also gives you the PERFECT excuse to go shopping often – it’s for research, darling) and it can come from a challenge. You never know when inspiration will strike, and that’s what makes this job so much fun!

Buy links – Release






Kobo | Kindle | iTunes














About the author: Nicole Murphy

Nicole Murphy is the author of the Dream of Asarlai trilogy, published by HarperCollins (re-launched as an electronic omnibus in April), and a couple dozen speculative fiction shorts. Her science fiction romance trilogy, the Jorda series, is being published by Escape Publishing. The first book, Loving the Prince, releases August 1. As Elizabeth Dunk she’s published contemporary romance with Escape Publishing and in July released a collection of paranormal erotic novellas, Release, also with Escape.

Find out more: website | Twitter | Facebook.

Note: Author pic credited to Cat Sparks.

Darklight On... Dani Kristoff

Hi everyone – Nicole Murphy here. For this Darklight On, I’m turning the light on one of my best friends, and fabulous author, Donna Maree Hanson. Donna writes young adult as herself and paranormal romance under the name Dani Kristoff. Her latest book, Bespelled, is out now through Escape Publishing.

Take it away, Donna/Dani!

How did you come to write speculative fiction? What attracted you to the genre?

I've always liked the strange, the fantastic, the futuristic and space adventures. I grew up on a diet of Jason of the Argonauts, Astro Boy, Prince Planet, Lost in Space, Star Trek, UFO and the Thunderbirds to name a few. Saturday mornings consisted of the Samurai, the Phantom Agents and b grade Japanese and American sci fi movies - think Godzilla and When Worlds Collide. So I suppose it is no surprise that when I got a burning idea for a novel it was science fiction. A few months earlier I had tried to start a historical romance and thought it was crap. I didn't know then that most first writings are crap.

I've loved paranormal for an age because it combines two elements I love romance and speculative fiction. For many years, I focused on science fiction and fantasy in my writing but there was always an element of romance. Now, I'm diving in the deep end and taking up the challenge to write romance and paranormal romance.

My favourite part of writing speculative fiction is the invention of stuff 'n guff. Characters are always fun.



Are you a plotter? Pantser? Or somewhere in-between?

I used to be a panster. I'd have characters and a situation and work from there. Nowadays, I write an outline. It's not quite planning in the sense that a sentence from my outline may take 5000 words to write and a paragraph a page in the actual manuscript. I find I have to write outlines because I forget stuff and that sucks. For Bespelled, I wrote a detailed outline (my first) but I was writing another novel when I got the idea entire so I had to write it down. So when it came to drafting Bespelled a few months later, I was ready to go. Writing plans also frees your mind up I think. You know you've got something off the back burner in your brain and it's safe and you can roll forward with whatever your doing.


Do you have a favourite of your characters?

Mm... this is hard. I have lots of favourites but as Bespelled is out there now, I'll focus on them. Elena is the main character and of course she's going to be a favourite for me. She's had a bit of a sad life, but she doesn't dwell on it. She's part of a coven, but she knows she far down the ranks because she's a half-witch. She's lived with humans and understand them and is pretty firm in treating them right. She also wants to be independent and I really like her outlook on life. Earn enough to live on and that's enough. Quite the opposite to me, but it's fun exploring that outlook. Jake is a bit of hunk actually. He's tough and smart, but utterly adorable when his guard is down. As for sidekicks. Grace, Elena's cousin and adopted sister is lovely. So lovely I have to write her story. I also think Elvira, the powerful witch will be interesting to explore.



What are you currently working on?

I'm working on a few things. Exciting though is Spiritbound, which is Grace's love story and it also explores the history of Elena, Elvira and Fel, the cat. I'm currently revising this novel in the hope of sending to my beta readers by the end of the month.



What is your favourite part of the process of writing?

This is a hard question because sometimes it moves around. Drafting has to be my favourite. Revising and rewriting is hard work. However, they can be rewarding and awesome too, particularly when new things are created that enhance the story. These days, challenging myself is what I aim to do. This can be painful too, because we can be our worse critics. But I love writing fiction so much that I will just keep at it.



What can we expect from future instalments of the series?

I plan to write more stories. I've mentioned Spiritbound, which is more like a prequel to Bespelled. Then I plan to go a bit darker and write Bethanea (Nea's) story. You meet her very briefly in Bespelled. Then I think there are quite a few candidates out there. It really depends on my level of enthusiasm and whether readers like the stories.



Who are your favourite authors?

I have a few of those. Glenda Larke, Trudi Canavan, Garth Nix, some Stephen Donaldson and Julian May. Romance wise I really adore Anna Campbell and Anne Gracie, some Johanna Lindsay and Julie Garwood.



What are you currently reading?

I've just finished Puberty Blues and I'm near the end of Ugly, a memoir by Robert Hoge. I also just finished Aurora: Darwin by Amanda Bridgeman, which was an SF, with some romance, and I was hooked. I have a range of books to read on my Ipad, mostly romance and I have a Georgette Heyer ready to start by my bed.



Do you have a favourite spec fiction movie or TV series?

I'm sorry? This blog couldn't fit them all in. Firefly, Star Trek, Star Wars, Riddick, LOTR and Hobbit movies, Willow, the Fifth Element, Sherlock!!!! And the list goes on (and include retro SF movies).



Do you have advice for emerging writers?

Today's advice is perseverance. If you really want to write and get published. Write, write and write. Read, read and read. Get feedback on your work from objective readers and persevere. I've been doing this for 13 years now and I've seen people give up, people who have talent. I've seen people who were rank beginners get better. Writing has to be your holy grail if you want to achieve your goals.

~~ 

Thanks, Donna/Dani, and congratulations on the launch of your new book!

Blurb for Bespelled by Dani Kristof:

Elena Denholm is a mild-mannered half witch. As a favour to her cousin, she agrees to meet with top Sydney lawyer, Jake Royston, to negotiate a property deal. Sparks fly immediately, but before they can even take a sip of wine, let alone explore where the sizzle might go, Jake is hit by a love spell and is helpless against his feelings for Elena.


Jake may be at her mercy, but Elena is keeping her hands off – exploiting humans is a no-no. But Jake's good looks and powers of persuasion are breaking down her resolve, and Elena knows she must do something fast.


Desperate to set things right before her resolve crumbles, Elena begins a frantic search to find the witch or warlock who hexed Jake and return him to his right mind, even if it means breaking her own heart.

BUY LINK: Escape Publishing

Magic Thursday: A Big Week

by Keziah Hill

As you may know, last week was a big week for me. I was one of five launch authors for Escape Publishing, a new digital imprint (can you have an imprint if you don’t print?) from Harlequin Australia. Open to all authors and readers, Escape wants to bring Australian voices to an international audience.


The launch was amazing.  A big cocktail party at East Circular Quay (I even had a cocktail named after my story!), a day of glamming up and LOTS (and I mean LOTS) of photographs.

Even a You Tube video! Rhian Cahill and I had our picture and a story in the Sydney Daily Telegraph and I’ll have something in my local paper too (which is a lot more confronting – everyone will know I’m an erotic romance author. Time to come out.)


All of this flurry of activity was a wild ride. Apart from enjoying it immensely even if it was a little stressful, it’s given me a great sense of validation. Validation can be something a little thin on the ground for a lot of writers.


We hunch over our computers most of the time, tapping out words we hope someone will like. Many of us, particularly if we are RWA members, enter competitions and when we get feedback, we focus on the negatives instead of the positives. If we submit to agents and publishers we live with frequent rejection. We work in an industry that is fairly ruthless in the way it deals with us. Often not deliberately, it’s just the nature of the beast.


So getting some validation is priceless. But I was struck by something Kate Cuthbert, Escape’s wonderful acquiring editor said on the launch day about why she likes working with Australian romance authors. We have a sense of camaraderie and support for each other which is not always that common in other genres and in other countries. That’s certainly something I’ve always experienced since joining RWA in 2004. Through some hard writing times, my writing mates in RWA have provided support and encouragement when validation was non-existent.

So, here’s to us! (She says raising a Chains of Revenge cocktail) 

Now to a give away. Make a comment and go into the draw for my novella Familiar Strangers.
http://keziahhill.com/familiar-strangers-on-sale

~~~

Great post, Keziah. I'm lifting up a Chains of Revenge cocktail. 

~Eleni

Keziah Hill can be contacted at her website,  on Facebook,  and on Twitter.