I’m delighted to be taking part in the Losing Myself blog tour with a great guest post by Victoria J Brown.
Character Inspiration
People often ask me, and other writers, where do you get your ideas from? I like to write stories that people can relate to, therefore most of my own ideas come from real life experiences, either my own or others.
However, I was inspired to write about Kat because of my own real-life experiences and experiences from close family and friends around me.
Once I’d created Kat’s character the story began to flow, before I knew where I was, I was writing book three. I realise when people start to read the first book they might not have the highest opinion of Kat, she seems quite a bitter character, but from the reviews, I’m pleased to say that most readers can see why.
She lost her mum at such a young age, her dad found this hard to cope with, she’s angry at the world … there are so many people who are angry at the world. There are many people who put on an exterior pretence, an exterior that they feel protects them from hurt and hatred … I feel Kat does this to her detriment.
But, I hope as the story enfolds, my lovely readers can see why. Hopefully, their hearts go out to Kat. It was difficult writing about Kat, as I felt her upset and sadness. I couldn’t make her a fluffy character when she’d been through so much, however, she will develop into so much more, which is why I felt Kat deserved, not just one book but three! Her story as she becomes a better person needed to be told, and by the time readers reach book three, they’ll hopefully love Kat even more.
I felt as if, Book 1, Holding Myself, was the beginning of her journey, a great place to start in Kat’s life, it gave grounding as to where she was from, where she’d been and what her aims in life were. Obviously, Holding Myself, disrupted some of these ‘ideals’ but ‘that’s life’. Book 2, Losing Myself, is where Kat faces her decisions, and once again, as in life, things don’t go to plan! By Book 3, we see Kat’s emotional rollercoaster reaching an all time high. I believe, many women will relate to book 3, it’s probably the most serious, but the most comical. Sometimes in life, we need to look at the funny side. I just hope my readers can see this with Kat.
When I was creating Kat I wanted to connect with readers. I wanted to connect with women. The idea was, they would pick up Kat’s story and understand her as they would any other friend. Some of the reviews have stated they felt instantly connected to Kat and that it was as if they were reading about a friend. This makes Kat’s story worth telling. I’m so grateful to my readers, they are my inspiration to keep on writing.
Thank you Victoria for such a lovely guest post. I always love to find out where authors got their inspiration from. So, what is Losing Myself about? Here is the all-important blurb:
Since Kat made her decision, everything around her seems to be falling apart. Not only is she dealing with family’s secrets, lies and deceit but the salon, which is opening around the corner, threatens her livelihood.
To make matters worse her relationship with Max is on the rocks. Although her relationships with Max’s mother, her step-mother and her sister have grown stronger, are they strong enough?
Working tirelessly to save her salon and save her relationship with Max, she is battling everyday to stay focused on her future. But what will the future bring?
Losing Myself is published on 29 September 2017 by Bombshell Books.
Author Bio
Victoria J.Brown has always had a passion for writing. When asked at the age of 9 years old, what she wanted to be when she grew up, her reply ‘an author’ was met with a disheartened response, ‘that jobs like that, don’t happen to people like us!’
Luckily, Victoria didn’t listen to this advice and never gave up on her passion. She continued to write while perusing a career in Marketing after gaining a BA (Hons) in Business and Marketing.
In 2006 her eldest daughter was born and then two years later her 2nd daughter came along. Victoria realised in the midst of the mummy madness, that she’d let her writing dwindle and that nappy-changing, sleepless nights and not being able to go to the toilet in peace could not stop her fulfilling her writing dreams. So when her girls were 3 years old and 18 months old, she decided that sleep was over-rated and enrolled at Teesside University. A year later she proudly left with a MA in Creative Writing, some wonderful friendships and a passion for therapeutic writing. While studying for her MA she was also delighted to win a short-story competition judged by Adele Parks, to which she received publication and mentoring from Adele.
After her MA, Victoria concentrated on writing women’s fiction. She loves writing stories that women can relate to. The Chaos Series grew from her own experience of pregnancy, motherhood and life.
Victoria is also passionate about mental health and likes to write of such issues in her stories. Her dedication to mental health and living life to the full has led her down a spiritual path. Through her learning of spirituality she qualified as a Law of Attraction and NLP Practitioner, which she integrates into her writing. Her inspirational blog includes an A-Z motivational journey with weekly therapeutic creative writing exercises. She has developed this further and will soon launch her inspirational shop. The shop has been created to pass on positivity and love to others … you never know when someone may need to see those messages.
Being accepted by Bombshell Books is a dream come true for Victoria, she hopes that her mantra for giving love always and never giving up will inspire others to follow their dreams and passion.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Victoria, her inspirational blog and shop you can visit www.victoria-brown.com, plus you can follow her on:
FB:
Twitter:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriaj.brown/
Pintrest: https://uk.pinterest.com/victoriajbrown/
A huge thank you to Sarah Hardy at Bombshell Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour. Follow the rest of the tour:
