Welcome! Please note this site deals with adult themes.
This blog is the often amusing, sometimes dangerous den of two British writers of contemporary and paranormal romance, and urban fantasy. Most of our stories are based in the UK and our heroes and heroines are passionate Brits - yes, passionate Brits exist! Come on in out of the cold, pull up a chair and see for yourself...

Friday 16 January 2015

What inspires you?

This is probably the question I get asked most as an author: what inspires you to write? The answer isn't complicated and one word sums it up: beauty. I am inspired by beauty. The tricky bit is that I find many things beautiful (and not just objects, but actions and thoughts), and sometimes they are things that other people might not find beautiful...

photo: afternoon beach © Dianna Hardy, 2014
  • nature - almost any landscape or scenery
  • historical buildings
  • daunting, modern skyscrapers
  • innovative design - new gadgets for practical things really press my beauty button
  • colours and paints - in fact, I used to paint and draw quite a lot. Watercolours, pastels and graphite pencils were my favourite mediums. I also love make-up palettes. Looking at a beautifully laid out, pigmented, shimmery palette fills me with nice feelings, even though I only wear make-up less than half of the week, if that
  • body art - tattoos, especially, are beautiful!
  • the colours of nature - they simply can't be replicated or reproduced by man
  • people - looking at an attractive man or woman (what I consider attractive) is always pleasurable - yes, man OR woman. Eyes capture me more than anything else, followed by how they wear a smile, followed by how they carry themselves as a person. And yes, I firmly believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is unequivocal. Everything we see is a perception
  • people's thoughts - words, quotes, and the thoughts they keep hidden; the ones they do not say but that you can see between their words
  • open-minded intelligence, coupled with sensitivity
  • circles - I love circles, balls, spheres, domes
  • the earth and the moon - especially when you can see the shadow of the moon making it spherical
  • shadows - they are both mysterious and beautiful
  • the way children play and act, so filled to the brim with unsuppressed life - I wish we would never lose this as we grow up. Having said that, I think I was an "old" child, and got younger as I got older
  • raw emotion - this is beautiful to watch unfold when it is led by pure intention, whether it's anger, love, or fear
  • conflict - this can be beautiful for the above reason, but it is also painful to witness. However, I am one of those people who can find beauty in pain and vulnerability. This doesn't mean I wish it in others, just that I see the beauty in it
  • passion - for the same reasons as 'raw emotion'. Too few people are brave enough to be passionate about life, and to follow their passions
  • travel, and others' stories of travel - I am a wanderluster at heart and always will be
  • animals - every single one. (Although I'm less partial to furry caterpillars - I'll take spiders over furry caterpillars!)
  • can I say nature again? I so love nature - everything we need can found in it. It provides for us and nourishes us, and that is beautiful in every respect
I find beauty in all the above, and more than can be listed, and writing is the tool I use to express that beauty. I also love trying to capture it in photographs - a hobby I shall be spending a little more time doing this year if I can.

What inspires you? Let us know!

Dianna xxx

No comments:

Post a Comment