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Guest Blogger: Phoebe Conn (Contest)
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

I’ve been a little overwhelmed on the home front, but didn’t want you to think I’d
forgotten about the Three Signed Books Contest. I’ll post the winner and a new contest on my blog tomorrow! ~DD

* * * * *

IDEAS

When I meet people and mention I’m a novelist, their first question is often, “Where do you get your ideas?” I’m absolutely shameless and will scavenge for inspiration everywhere. Sometimes I happen to overhear an enticing chance remark. Other times, I’m doing research for one book and find ideas for another. I love going to movies, and a minor character might spark my imagination in a completely new direction. A poet friend and I liked to sit in outdoor cafes to watch for people who’d make intriguing characters. When we’d spot one, he’d make notes for a poem, and I’d find a way to use him/her in a book.

One night we were in a restaurant and our waiter had a thick accent we couldn’t understand. We didn’t want to insult him and did the best we could, but he made a terrific space pirate who shouted orders his crew couldn’t understand and follow. I also like to observe the way people move. Some have a distinctive walk, and whether it’s a proud posture, or a lazy slump, I use it. Colin Firth leads with his shoulders, as an example. For fun, note how your favorite actors walk.

My February Retro Romance from Samhain, CAPTIVE HEART, is a Viking adventure I wrote after traveling through Scandinavia. There are wonderful museums there with beautiful thousand-year-old artifacts that provide excellent detail for a story. There is a museum in Oslo with the Oseberg ship found in a burial mound. It’s complete down to the intricate carvings and it’s a marvelous thing to see. There’s another Viking ship museum in Roskilde, Denmark. In approximately 1070, the five ships were sunk in the harbor to protect the city from invasion. They were excavated in 1962 and are displayed in a wonderful building right on the coast. Standing beside them, I felt an eerie sensation, as though the ships were haunted by the men who’d sailed them. I couldn’t wait to get home and begin a book where my hero and heroine sailed in a proud Viking ship bound for adventure and best of all, romance.

I’ll give a print or ebook copy of CAPTIVE HEART to someone who comments. It’s one of my most popular books, and a New York Times bestseller. I love to hear from fans, please send me an email:phoebeconn@earthlink.net or visit my website.

15 comments to “Guest Blogger: Phoebe Conn (Contest)”

  1. Dawn Staniszeski
    Comment
    1
    · February 1st, 2012 at 10:11 am · Link

    Great idea for this book..sounds like a great one! Thanks for sharing! 😛



  2. Alisa
    Comment
    2
    · February 1st, 2012 at 10:29 am · Link

    I just love all these contest!! I am a contest junkie and a book junkie as well. lol



  3. Maria D.
    Comment
    3
    · February 1st, 2012 at 10:34 am · Link

    I love the cover for this book! I will have to check out how my favorite actors walk – I never thought of that before…lol

    I would love to visit a museum with lots of Viking artifacts, I think it would be so interesting and fun! Thanks for the giveaway!



  4. Peggy
    Comment
    4
    · February 1st, 2012 at 10:44 am · Link

    Oh the cover is gorgeous! I’m like Alisa (above), I ‘m a book junkie too ! 🙂



  5. Joy
    Comment
    5
    · February 1st, 2012 at 10:46 am · Link

    The book sounds really good. I am always looking for new authors to read.



  6. Phoebe Conn
    Comment
    6
    · February 1st, 2012 at 11:40 am · Link

    Thank you all for your enthusiastic comments! I’m in California, so please be patient. I want to read everyone’s comment before I pick a winner.



  7. Delilah Devlin
    Comment
    7
    · February 1st, 2012 at 11:42 am · Link

    I love Vikings as well! I’m hoping to make it to Iceland next year. Museums are always tops on my list for ideas.



  8. Mary Kennedy Eastham
    Comment
    8
    · February 1st, 2012 at 12:10 pm · Link

    I know, I love when people ask where you get your ideas.
    If ya gotta ask the question, you’re never gonna be a writer!
    Yay, less competition!

    I’m like you, I snag ideas from EVERYWHERE. Todd, the elevator
    guy with moppy hair that so needs a washing, who makes no eye contact, becomes the sad, forlorn brother of my hero Billy Blinker
    in my story The Girl With Sand in Her Hair. We are so lucky to be
    writers, aren’t we? Otherwise, we’d be such brats!!!



  9. tammy ramey
    Comment
    9
    · February 2nd, 2012 at 2:19 am · Link

    i love the cover, it’s gorgeous and i look forward to reading it.
    thank you for the chance at such a great giveaway.

    trvlagnt1t@yahoo.com



  10. Mary Preston
    Comment
    10
    · February 2nd, 2012 at 5:16 am · Link

    I always imagine an author as someone who always has the ON switch going at all times. I would love to read CAPTIVE HEART thank you.



  11. CrystalGB
    Comment
    11
    · February 2nd, 2012 at 10:16 am · Link

    Captive Heart sounds great. Love the cover. I like Viking books.



  12. Willa Edwards
    Comment
    12
    · February 2nd, 2012 at 1:54 pm · Link

    Sounds like great fun, looking for ideas with a friend at a coffee shop. I think getting the ideas is the best part, that rush of inspiration. And I agree with Mary, if you have to ask the question, you’re definitely not a writer. I’ve never had trouble getting ideas, its keeping up with them that’s hard.

    Love the cover of captive heart, looks like a great read. I love a good viking and a boa.



  13. Willa Edwards
    Comment
    13
    · February 2nd, 2012 at 1:56 pm · Link

    Sounds like great fun, looking for ideas with a friend at a coffee shop. I think getting the ideas is the best part, that rush of inspiration. And I agree with Mary, if you have to ask the question, you’re definitely not a writer. I’ve never had trouble getting ideas, its keeping up with them that’s hard.

    Love the cover of captive heart, looks like a great read. I love a good viking and a boat.



  14. Phoebe Conn
    Comment
    14
    · February 2nd, 2012 at 2:00 pm · Link

    Thank you to everyone who commented. Delilah will announce the winner today and I’ll send your book. It’s wonderful to hear how many of you are excited about Vikings. You should see the current crop of men in Denmark. Drool.



  15. ELF
    Comment
    15
    · February 3rd, 2012 at 1:14 am · Link

    Sorry to get here so late…for some reason I have had trouble getting into the website and the blog. I love the way you integrate real-life experiences into your stories. Thanks for sharing your inspirations.



Comments are closed.