Leona
Bushman - Guest Post: Every author has their first book/story. What motivated
you to create your first book?
Actually, my first book came out of
nowhere. I was always motivated to put my thoughts down on paper, though. Even
when I was a child, when I really wanted to get an emotion across I would turn
to a journal and just start writing until my fingers fell off.
Inspiration, I believe, can hit you
when you least expect it. And when I was thirteen-years-old, I lost one of the
most important people in the world to me; my grandfather, Joseph Carrier. This
man was the person who literally made life fun. He knew every story; he knew all
about history; he knew facts about locations around the world and the
back-stories behind each one—he was a walking library of humor and information.
When he left this earth it was
difficult for me, and I turned to two young characters that had a way to
actually ‘see’ him when I couldn’t. I wrote all about this duo as I grew up,
and they eventually became the characters in my YA series, ‘The Angel
Chronicles.’ That series went exceedingly well, even though there was a part of
me that believed it was nothing more than a thirteen-year-old who was still rambling.
(LOL) Thankfully, education, learning, and spreading my own wings to meet my
own adventures head-on as I grew up, helped me become a better writer. And I
was lucky enough to begin in the editorial realm when I was just nineteen,
working my way up to Editor-in-Chief.
I love the ability to mix historical
fact with fiction. My mother, being a career librarian, always taught me that
research into the past was a great deal of fun, and I haven’t stopped since.
This is a skill that really comes in handy where the ‘Tallent & Lowery’
series is concerned. The oddest things will motivate me to build a new
puzzle/adventure for this duo. And these things can come from something as
simple as a fact brought up during a very mundane conversation. (You never know
where that golden nugget will come from for your next book).
So, in essence, my grandfather was
the original motivation to begin writing, but the motivation to continue really
has come from readers, my mother, my incredible daughter, and that girl inside
me who cannot stop putting her emotions on paper. God willing, she’ll never
have to.
Until Next Time, Everybody,
Happy Holidays!
Amy Lignor
Purchase Links for
the print & digital versions of Tallent & Lowery:
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Thank you so much for having me on today! Happy Holidays to both
you and your fans!!
