Grab yourself another glass of unicorn punch, Kelly Jensen is here! Kelly tells us about weird inspirations! Are you curious? Check it out! And she won't leave you empty handed, she's hosting a giveaway for her latest ebook, Building Forever!
Take it away Kelly!
Weird Inspirations
Happy fifth anniversary to Boy Meets Boy Reviews! I’m here with an ebook copy of Building Forever to give away, and a story about where I get my ideas from. Some of them are pretty weird!
The ideas from my books come from anywhere and everywhere: a line of dialogue or a song lyric, a scene from a movie, the dilapidated resort near the post office, a news article, someone else’s book, the way the light flickers between the trees along the side of the road when I’m driving, the need to explore a particular type of character, being tapped on the side of the head with a bo staff, a funny situation, and… a mouthful of Cheez-Its.
I’ll start with the bo staff. For seven years I studied Kiryoku, a martial art combining Tang Soo Do, Shotokan, and Aikido. One of the elements is a weapons kata, and we had to learn a new one at each belt level. The first is performed with a bo staff—a long, slim pole of bamboo or wood—and the mixture of learning and mischief always led to a few pokes. And unintentional taps to the head. I ducked, another student turned, and smack—the bo staff hit the side of my head, but so did an idea!
Well, the idea was inside my head, unfolding like a scene in a movie. I saw a girl backing out of her apartment, equipment bag slung over her shoulder and bo staff tucked awkwardly under her arm. She locks the door, turns, and whacks her neighbor across the cheek with the tip of the staff. She’s horribly embarrassed of course, but he doesn’t mind so much because it was just a glancing blow, and she’s pretty cute in her karate outfit. Also, he’s interested in martial arts. She takes him to meet her sensei, he signs up for lessons, and then he asks her out.
There was more to it than that. She had a backstory—a reason she was taking self-defense classes—and he probably had a good story too, but I hadn’t really figured it out yet. I put a few paragraphs in one of my notebooks when I got home. It wasn’t until I returned to the idea, ready to write it, that I fleshed it out more—and changed it significantly.
I knew from the beginning that the story I wanted to write was of someone finding self-confidence through the study of a martial art, and that their journey would be guided and complicated by their love interest. But when I started outlining my idea, it didn’t feel as fresh as I hoped it would be. Then I changed my first main character from female to male and discovered not only an entirely new slant, but a renewed zest for the project. What I’d thought would be an empowering story about a young woman coming to terms with an event from her recent past actually became an even better story for a young man with a similar character makeup: someone who had been bullied and abused, and didn’t know how to fight back. What I loved about the switch is that we don’t often see men in this particular role in romantic fiction.
And so I began to write Max’s story, and opposite him, Jake—who didn’t mind at all swapping out a female love interest for a male one. The book I’m talking about is Block and Strike, which will always have a special place in my heart—for the way it began, but also because I got to share part of my own journey via self-defense training, and pair together two deserving characters who really needed each other.
To See the Sun is my most recent science fiction release and I got the idea for it from a Harlequin historical romance about a pregnant woman who arrives in Montana, hoping to meet the man who has contracted her to be his wife. When she arrives, that man is nowhere to be found, however—having died in some circumstance I don’t remember. But the town sheriff takes her on, and eventually falls in love with her, becoming both her husband and father to the baby. I absolutely loved the story. It pushed all my fluffy buttons: found family, a sweet, beta hero who was also tough enough to deflect gossip and take on the town bullies, and a heroine with nerves of steel. I can’t imagine traveling halfway across the known world to meet someone I didn’t know—alone and pregnant—only to find out they had died. I think I’d fall apart right then. She never did.
I immediately wanted to write something like it, once again shifting the focus to a male character in need and came up with the plot for To See the Sun: a young man is caught in a desperate situation and the only viable solution is to take a contract as a companion to a lonely colonist—a mail order husband of the future.
I really love forced proximity tropes. I love writing situations where people have to get to know each other. But I also love writing slow burn romance where the first kiss is after the halfway mark and deeper intimacy a long way behind. Combining those two loves with a mail order bride trope and a science fiction setting seemed like an impossible task—but I think I pulled it off and a lot of readers seem to agree! I had a ton of fun writing To See the Sun and I’m eager to follow it up with more trope-laden romances set on far flung planets.
Without a doubt, the weirdest and most ridiculous inspiration for a book came from a box of Cheez-It crackers. If you’re not familiar with Cheez-It’s, they’re tasty little squares of salty, cheesy goodness and they come in many “can’t eat just one” flavors. My favorite is the white cheddar variety, but I’ll go a box of original any day. So, I was in the kitchen one day, stuffing my face with the things—literally stuffing: handful toward mouth, fit in as many as I could, crunch and spit—when one of those little movies started playing in my head.
I imagined someone standing there with a mouth full of cheesy little crackers. Crumbs spilling out, orange dust on their lips and fingers. And in walks The One. The person they’re going to fall in love with and spend the rest of their life with.
Charlie had opinions regarding that, and just about everything else, so I immediately ran upstairs to start telling his story—as dictated by him. Then Simon chimed in and that’s how Building Forever got started. I loved writing this book, particularly Charlie’s point of view as a parent and fellow science fiction writer. But I also adored Simon’s quieter aspect and really like how his arc continues in that same quiet and understated way throughout all three books of the This Time Forever series.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little bit more about where my ideas come from. I’d love to tell you about more of them, but I’m sure there are other posts to read and other prizes up for grabs! To the winner of Building Forever—have fun spending time with the guys and if you start craving Cheez-Its… so sorry (not sorry). <3
About Kelly
If aliens ever do land on Earth, Kelly will not be prepared, despite having read over a hundred stories of the apocalypse. Still, she will pack her precious books into a box and carry them with her as she strives to survive. It’s what bibliophiles do.
Kelly is the author of eleven novels, including the Chaos Station series, co-written with Jenn Burke, and several novellas and short stories. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.
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Win an eBook copy of Building Forever from Kelly Jensen!
Charlie King is doing fine. Sure, he’s a widower raising a teenage daughter who just got her first boyfriend, his book series isn’t writing itself, and he has a crush on his new neighbor — the guy next door. But everything’s just fine.
Simon Lynley is doing better. He moved to Bethlehem to fall out of love and rebuild his career. An affair with his neighbor isn’t part of the plan, but the attraction between them is too hard to ignore.
But when Simon’s ex follows him to Pennsylvania seeking reconciliation, and Charlie’s life starts to feel like a video on repeat, everything comes apart. Charlie worries that he’s failing as a father, and Simon is a distraction he can’t afford. Meanwhile Simon doesn’t know if he could survive being left again, and he hasn’t come all this way to make the same mistakes. But despite their fears, it’s only together that they’ll find the strength to slay old foes and build the forever they’ve been waiting for.
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The giveaway is open until 12:00AM (EST) on 11/17/18. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner!
Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!
Don't miss entering in our month long unicorn giveaway HERE! It ends 12/1/18!
Thank you for the post, i enjoyed reading about weird inspirations ;)
ReplyDeleteReneV
Thanks!
DeleteAngelaVR
ReplyDeleteLoved the Weird Inspirations, thank you for sharing
Thank you!
DeleteHmm...I never knew Cheez Its had other flavors. Must investigate (0;
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new release (and I love the sound of the others...must also investigate, lol).