Wednesday with the Writers: Classic Inspiration for Scenes by Jennifer Rae Gravely

Hi guys!

It is Wednesday, so that means it's time with some of our writers. Jennifer Rae Gravely is here to talk about getting inspiration for your scenes from the classics. Not plaugerize of course... but get inspiration. We get inspiration from everything... why not the classics?

What is your favorite ways to get inspiration for your stories?

~Kelly

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Here's Jennifer...

I love the classic poets and find that I use their works as inspiration for scenes in my stories. In Knight of the Dead I favored the romantic poet William Wordsworth and in Set to Love used his friend and fellow author of the Lyrical Ballads Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Since this is National Poetry Month, I thought I’d share with everyone. Leave me a comment and tell me your favorite poet or poem.

From Knight of the Dead

 

After putting Rose to bed, Mark led Persephone to the porch swing on the back deck. Poetry raced through his mind at the perfection of the moment. They sat close, staring at the diamonds in the cloudless night sky with silence a friend. The voice of the English poet William Wordsworth as he gazed at nature’s beauty mimicked the peace in Mark’s soul with Persephone beside him. The Japanese red maple tree stretched dark shadows across the corner near the stairs, to “connect the landscape with the quiet of the sky.” Every night like this made sense, but the words to make it so still stuck in his throat.

 

When she touched his knee, a bolt of energy jolted him into action. He leaned in and kissed her. Electricity sizzled in the air.

 

“Say something sweet to me,” she whispered, pulling back slightly. She wore a thin, cream-colored sweater and black corduroys. The moonlight made her creamy complexion glow and her hair flame.

 

“Ice cream, cake, chocolate, cookies, gummy bears...” He grinned in anticipation of her smile at his clever word play.

 

She giggled, her voice like a song. “Not what I had in mind.”

 

“I’ll try again.” Mark inhaled her beauty. “Was your daddy a thief?” She shrugged, leaning away from him. “Because he stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes.”

 

Persephone didn’t laugh, and her body tensed. Mark ran his hand through his hair. “Most girls fall for that one.” He searched her eyes for the answer to her sudden coldness. “But you’re not like most girls, are you?”

 

As she slowly shook her head, her hair brushed her shoulders. “I changed my mind.” She put her finger over her lips. “No more talking.”

 

Pulling her hand away, he brought it to his mouth. She shivered as his lips traced her arm, her shoulder, her neck.

 

He murmured, “’A sense sublime of something far more deeply interfused, whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean, and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man.’” His lips brushed hers.

 

“Oh, my!” She sighed. “That’s what I wanted.”

 

He slid his arms around the small of her back, pressing her shaking body against his. “Anything, and it’s yours.”

 

“More of these, please.” She pressed her lips against his. Her kisses haunted him like a passion.

 

The night was perfect.

 

From Set to Love

Guests lingered along the lantern lit pathways that stretched toward the orchards on the left and the forest of hardwood trees on the right. His heart swelled with poetry, reminding him of the words of Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his poem “The Eolian Harp,” ‘O! the one Life within us and abroad, Which meets all motion and becomes its soul…’ The path opened before them, displaying a world of Elfin delight beyond the twilight of the late summer’s eve. A formally attired band played, bookended by marble statues of the Greek twins Apollo and Artemis. Rosebushes dotted the perimeter of the pebbled paths, filling the air with the sweet scent of the season. The wooden platform ahead was empty, although couples sat at the small tables surrounding the sixteen by twenty-four foot dance floor.

 

“I’m not shy.” Grabbing his hand, she practically sprinted to the stage.

 

Blake followed her lead. She moved as gracefully as a nymph, and he marveled at his good fortune. The moon smiled down on them, and the stars winked, creating, ‘A light in sound, a sound-like power in light, Rhythm in all thought, and joyance everywhere—’

You can get your copy at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Astraea Press or wherever ebooks are sold.













Pick up your copy today from: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Astraea Press or wherever ebooks are sold.