Guest Post: Emerald City - Alicia Leppert

Alicia K Leppert is the author of 'Emerald City'

 "Olivia Tate is a broken shell of a girl haunted by the tragic events that fill her past. She has closed herself off from the world, each day grasping at something—anything—to live for. Convinced there will never be a way out, she seeks solace in the depths of her medicine cabinet. When she wakes up days later in the hospital she is introduced to Jude, the quiet stranger responsible for saving her life. She never could have guessed then that her mysterious rescuer would end up saving her life a second time, while simultaneously turning her world upside down."

 Guest Post:
One question I am asked often is, "Who inspires you?" To be honest, it's not so much a question of who inspires me as what inspires me. There are people--authors--that I look up to, sure, but as far as being inspired about what I write, it comes from a million different places, sometimes in ways I would never expect.

There are the obvious things, like music. Music is definitely a great place to turn for inspiration. There's something about music that alters your mood, that makes you feel differently. When I was writing the first several chapters of my book, in the depths of Olivia's depression, I listened to my most melancholy songs to get in the right mood. Even though I can't listen to music while I write, I often listen to it before I write to set the tone. My favorite bands to listen to when writing Emerald City were OneRepublic, Linkin Park, and Coldplay.

TV and movies are another great source of inspiration for me. My favorite genre is drama, mainly because it gets me in a dark, creative mood. When I'm watching something, whatever it is, I pick out little things and file them away in my writer's brain to incorporate into my story later: something a character says, a situation, sometimes just a gesture or movement someone makes. Often I'll see something and think, "I would do it this way," or "I would take that one part and build off it in this direction..." and it takes off from there.

Something that I've found surprising is how much photographs inspire me. Pictures of beautiful, fairytale-like places get my mind spinning in a million different directions. Or an old black and white photo of people who have long since left this earth have me instantly dreaming of what their lives were like, what was going on when that picture was taken. I can create ten different novel ideas off of just one picture!

The best source of inspiration, however, is real life. Every situation, every conversation, every experience I have or witness is logged away for later analysis and eventually, story-telling. Much of Emerald City is based on real-life experiences, whether my own or people I've known. There is no better way to be inspired than to live life. What about you, readers? Where do you find inspiration?

About Alicia

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I always knew I wanted to be a writer, ever since Career Day in first grade when I walked around carrying a notebook and pencil. Twenty-some odd years later, after a short stint in high school where I dreamed of being an actress, a whirlwind Internet romance including a blind proposal that led to a fairytale wedding and two pretty-near perfect kids, my lifelong dream came to fruition with my first novel, Emerald City. I live with my small brood in my beloved hometown of Pasco, which is located in the only part of Washington state that isn't green. When I'm not writing, I can be found decorating novelty cakes and taking naps--my other two passions.