Thursday, February 25, 2016

Humor & Inspiration in Writing: Life Inspires Art

I'm slightly obsessed with England. (Okay, sometimes, I refer to the BBC as my boyfriend. Happy now?) 

The gifted  & gorgeous Terry Tyler
Today's guest, Terry Tyler, is my English counterpart. She loves American culture as much as I love the UK's. We've chatted about everything from Wayne's World to Downton. It's odd if I pull up my Monday feed without finding an adorable or thought provoking comment from her. “We're not worthy” doesn't begin to express how I feel about Terry. She's warm, kind, funny, and a gifted writer. I hope you appreciate her special brand of humour as much as I do.
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First of all, many thanks to Sarah for inviting me to take part in her new series, a broad subject that forced me to think about where my writing inspiration originates from. After much consideration I realised that it comes not from real life events, or from film or beautiful scenery; it comes from people.

My books are character driven. As I'm fairly ancient these days, many friendships, relationships and acquaintances have entered and departed the miniscule part of time and space that is my life, and it's from these I draw so much, often subconsciously.  Humour? Well, I've always loved writing and watching funny stuff, and have many amusing friends!  So in my novels' dialogue I might slip in a clever quip from an old boyfriend, an annecdote from a friend that I can re-work, or some horrendously pretentious uttering from a work colleague of two decades ago. Even the most serious of my books contain a certain humour; I'm a great observer of people, of how they interact, how their aspirations and fears manifest themselves (and, in the case of those with whom I was perhaps less friendly, their affectations and pomposity!), and these can inspire some good comedic moments.
So, basically this, Terry?
I've recently finished a 40K word novella called Best Seller, about three writers. One is already successful, two are struggling to be so, but please expect the unexpected; the only person to read it so far is my first proof/beta reader, who said that even when she got to the last ten pages she hadn't a clue how it would end!  Despite her asking things like “Is Gretchen supposed to be so-and-so?”, the characters in the book come purely from my imagination; what I've taken from real life are some situations and emotions I've observed in my world of writing and writers. As this article is for Sarah from across the pond, I shall talk in US English and say that there's a modicum of 'snark' in it (smiley face with wink). I promise, though, that nobody in Best Seller is 'meant to be' anyone I know—honestly! 

Best Seller should be out some time in March, cross fingers and touch wood—here's the blurb:

Three women, one dream: to become a successful author.

Eden Taylor has made it—big time.  A twenty-three year old with model girl looks and a book deal with a major publisher, she's outselling the established names in her field and is fast becoming the darling of the media.

Becky Hunter has money problems.  Can she earn enough from her light-hearted romance novels to counteract boyfriend Alex's extravagant spending habits, before their life collapses around them?

Hard up factory worker Jan Chilver sees writing as an escape from her troubled, lonely life.  She is offered a lifeline—but fails to read the small print...
In the competitive world of publishing, success can be merely a matter of who you know—and how ruthless you are prepared to be to get there.

BEST SELLER is a novella of 40k words (roughly half as long as an average length novel), a slightly dark, slightly edgy drama with a twist or three in the tale.  Enjoy!
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Cover reveal! 
Terry Tyler has published eleven books, all of which are available via Amazon and Amazon UK. She writes “contemporary (women's) fiction, a little bit romantic suspense, a little bit edgy, a little bit dark sometimes, always real life.” She's amazingly dialed in to British history and has a gift for making it live for her readers. Her blog is a constant source of laughter, deep thoughts, and inspiration. 

Follow Terry Tyler online:
Amazon UK 
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Oh my gosh, she's so fabulous! Maybe we get along so well because we're both people watchers who use anyone and anything as inspiration for the next story. Uh...I mean, no, I'd never do that! Whatever. I totally write character driven fiction, and I'm glad to have Terry around to pave the way. Carry on, Terry! Best of luck on your new novel!

24 comments:

  1. Thanks so much, Sarah - what a lovely surprise this morning! And you are tooooo kind - what about the un-gushing English reserve?!! Now I'm going to go and read all the other posts :) Big thank yous and have a lovely weekend! xx

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    1. Whatever. You're amazing and I adore you. I couldn't have said enough. Thanks for coming on board :) And congrats on the new book!

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  2. Good to see you here, Terry, and a perfect warning for anyone who associates with a writer to be careful what they say!

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    1. Indeed, Anne - but I imagine that, like you and most other writers, we mostly just 'borrow' stuff from people who will never read us anyway :)

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  3. Great blog post, Sarah, as always, and nice to meet you, Terry. I really like your perspective, and I love character-driven pieces. Great ideas.

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    1. Thanks so much for reading, Tamara ~ I really appreciate your kind comment :) x

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    2. I like living in the edge! Maybe they'll read it. Maybe they won't but who could pass us a good characterization? Or a delightfully awkward situation from the past. (I'm pretty sure that if they DO read it, they'll just be flattered.) :)

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  4. Looking forward to reading Best Seller, Terry. Your voice comes through in all you write - as it does in this interview. Thanks to you both for this post

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    1. Isn't she wonderful? What she didn't say is that she's been sick and refused to cancel on me. Terry is awesome. And yes, I was thrilled that I could just drop it in with little embellishment more than a few words. I'm a BIG fan of Miss Terry.

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    2. Thanks so much, Judith, I hope that's a good thing! Sarah, you've just made my poorly knee perk up, I'm sure!!!!

      You'd think that having to sit down in bed for much of the time would mean that I'd have all the time in the world for stuff like this, but alas the knee and large amount of painkillers has an adverse effect ~ I'm glad I made the effort for you though! x

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  5. I like your new cover! And it IS tempting to slide little bits and pieces....or people into one's work. Derivative moi? Hahahaha..tho in my case, it's more 'own back' time.....

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    1. I know!!!!! Frederick who??? Thanks re the cover :) x

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    2. You two crack me up! I really do like slipping folks and real stories into my books. But mostly they're my own stupid mistakes...so there's that. Carry on, lovely friends!

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  6. Loved this post (and the new cover). Terry's books are so captivating, and now I know why - even if I wasn't a writer they would still encourage me to people watch for hours on end! *rushes off to dig out old diaries for inspiration*

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    1. Ha ha! Yes, sometimes I want to thank people, Shelley ;) Thanks for reading x

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    2. Thanks, Shelley! People watching is the BEST. I prefer to do it at Walmart. Or the mall. Equally horrifying...uh, enlightening.

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  7. I still say I know who Gretchen is. Har-di-har-har.

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  8. I am the biggest offender of slotting people that I know / have known in my writings. I actually 'borrowed' an incident that happened between my bestfriend and I back when we were very young adults for comedic purposes. When she read it, she absolutely loved it-- might not bode so well for the times I've written character traits of ex's to give a jerk character more "light and shade" and such.

    I'm looking forward to your book, Terry, I hope it will be a great success :)

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    1. My friend did the same! Every time I read her book, I see it in the small town where we attended college. A story is so much cooler when it's riddled with inside jokes. :)

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    2. Jess, I did the very same thing! My sister recognised the time when she found videos of her boyfriend having sex with another woman, in one of my books!!!! And I used a friend's annecdote of when she met a guy off a dating site, who went to the loo and never came back..! I know there are more.. a few years ago I went to an awful 'open mic' artistes and poetry night; in the pub afterwards I said to my husband, right, this is going in the book! (I was writing Dream On at the time, about a pub rock band). That really WAS fun.. :) Sarah, yes - the inside jokes are such fun! Even now, I put certain names in to amuse my sister and husband.

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  9. Terry Tyler is amazing I know her from Twitter and have really enjoyed the books of hers I've read! Can't wait for best seller I'll be keeping my eyes open for the notices it's available!

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    1. Thanks, Cathy! She's well worth reading! Terry is AWESOME and oh-so-English.

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  10. Thanks so much, Prairie Wife!!!!! How sweet of you x It thrills me know end to think you are reading my very English books, so far away! xx

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