Please welcome a good friend back to Reading Lark. Tawdra Kandle, author of The King Series (first book Fearless, just published), is back with us today, gracing us with a guest post. Thank you again for your time Tawdra!
The other day, I said something to my daughter, and she turned to me in shock. “HOW did you know that was what I was thinking?” she demanded. “Can you hear my thoughts? Is THAT where you got the idea for Tasmyn?”
Hardly. If I could hear minds, I probably wouldn’t be the well-adjusted woman I am today. Although I have superb mother’s intuition, I’m pretty happy that I can’t hear what my kids are thinking.
But Fearless—and the other books in The King Series—are indeed filled with people and plot lines that came from real life, or that were at least suggested by things that did happen.
Tasmyn’s multiple moves, for instance, were born of my childhood memories. I was in three schools before I was in fourth grade, and I well remember that angst. My dad’s love of Mustangs from the mid-‘60s inspired Michael’s ‘65 beauty. And Tasmyn’s ineptitude with driving stick shift? Yeah. . that was me. My husband bought a standard transmission car right before we got married, and trying to drive it made me crazy (and gave him lots of joke material).
But (spoiler!) while Tasmyn does eventually learn to drive Michael’s beloved car, I still haven’t mastered it. So sometimes fiction is better than reality.
Since I live with three young adults and one almost young adult, fodder for my plots sometimes falls into my lap. At the time I was writing Tas and Michael’s love story, I had inspiration in the form of my daughters’ romances. The complexities of the relationship between parents and their nearly grown kids definitely had a lot to do with both the friction and the sympathy we see with Tas, Michael and their families.
One of the most frequent questions I’ve had from readers of Fearless is about Nell. Was she inspired by a real person?
No, not really, although she is a composite of several people I’ve known from my grade school days on. To the best of my knowledge, none of those girls were witches. . but then again, you never know.
Find out more about Tawdra Kandle:
I bet having young adults around gives immense credibility to your story! It's hilarious that your daughter asked if you could read her mind. :D LOL!
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