In 2008 I was working on a middle-grade adventure series.  I had been working on it for roughly three years.  It was very much different than my first two books, which are more serious in tone and for an adult audience.

But in the fall of 2008 I hit a road block.  We (I use that term very loosely) were pregnant with our fourth child, I had just received a promotion at work giving me more responsibility, and my writing was more work than it was fun.  When something you do on the side stops becoming fun, it doesn’t take long for it to fall by the wayside.

So from September until the end of November I don’t remember writing much.  Life was busy and I focused on family and work.  If anything, I had relinquished the ‘writing’ weight that was hanging around my neck. Writing was something I would get to…someday.

Then two things happened in December of 2008 that changed everything.  The first was that our daughter, Andrea (or Andi), was born.  The second was that, because of her birth and the feelings associated with it, I had the desire to write again.  But the big difference was that for the first time ever, I had the desire to be a “writer”, not just a guy who wanted to turn stories into books so I could make a lot of money (who wouldn’t want to do that, right?).  And there is a BIG difference between a ‘writer’ and ‘somebody who just wants to publish a book’.

You see, the reason I was working on a middle-grade adventure series for three years is because my two previous books didn’t make any money, nor spurn the fancy of any agents or editors to get a book deal.  So I desperately tried to force a story that I thought was sellable and tried to force myself to write it.  The end result…it didn’t work.

But after Andi was born, I received my ‘aha’ moment.  I finally got the idea to write a story…just to write it.  I didn’t need to worry about what other people thought and I didn’t need to worry about selling it to an agent.  I was going to write a story for my daughters that I want them to enjoy.  Period.  And a whole new world opened up because of it!

So what is this story for my daugthers?

Ultimately, the feelings associated with daughter’s birth (and how I feel about all my daughters) is that they are queens.  They are royalty in every sense of the word. They are born with the essence of greatness in them.  They have the potential to become anything and everything they desire and to have amazing joy in their life.  That’s what I want the story to convey.

I started by looking up great women in history.  As I studied, I kept coming back again and again to Joan of Arc and I was fascinated by her history.  A simple farm girl who changed the tide of war for her people.  But there is so much more, it is awesome (except for the part where they burn her at the stake at the end…that kind of sucks)!

So the idea for my story is very much inspired by Joan of Arc.  It is not a retelling and it is not historical fiction, but it is inspired.  I like to think of it as, “What if a Joan of Arc type character had to save the kingdom, but also had to deal with your typical teenage angst and boy troubles?”

It’s been fun, hard, but utlimately rewarding.  More than anything else, I look forward to sharing it with my daughters.  But I also look forward to sharing it with you.

Right now I foresee the story as a trilogy (one book for each of my daughters).  I am done with the first draft of the first book and will be done with the first edit/revision sometime in the next couple of weeks (that’s a lot of firsts):-)

If there is one thing I have learned…don’t give up.  For you, whatever you have been inspired to do, keep moving forward.

As I mentioned, my inspiration for this book is my daughters.  Is there something in your life you are working on (a story, a piece of artwork, a song, etc.) and if so, what is your inspiration?  I would love to know!  Leave a comment below.

As the weeks and months progress, each Monday I will share more about the story and be looking for your thoughts and insight.  Be sure to back next Monday as I give a small tease and share the first few paragraphs from the book!!!