Blog Tour Guestpost: What Inspires Robin Waldrop to Write

What Inspires Me to Write

by Robin P. Waldrop 

My oldest daughter and I are big readers and we swap books all the time. We were talking just the other day about what inspired me to start writing, and why. After careful thought I realized all I could think of was how ideas just sort of come to me. And if I don’t quickly get them on paper they soon start to haunt my every waking moment. Seriously. 

Before I wrote my first novel, Twisted, I kept having a reoccurring dream about a hard core young woman going around arresting sadistic killers and making the world a safer place. It was only a dream, so I really didn’t think too much about it until I found myself obsessing while awake. The more I thought about her, the more real she became. It was literally driving me batty, but I still did nothing but continue to read.

I had also joined a book club and it just happened that this particular monthly read was a suspense/thriller about an FBI agent. I was so excited, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the book. What a let down it turned out to be. It had to be one of the worst books ever written. I’m so not even joking. As soon as I began reading I quickly noticed the prose was choppy at best. I thought, well, it will get better. Just keep going. So I did. The more I attempted to read, the more frustrated I became. 

I didn’t even make to the end of the first chapter before flinging it across the room. my husband asked me what was wrong and I told him how terrible it was and that even I could write better than that. I mean this was a book that made it through professional editors and agents, and eventually publishing. It was awful.

My husband, being the calm rational one, told me to go write something better. I figured he was teasing, which he does quite often, so I laughed sarcastically, but I guess the thought stuck in the back of my mind, because for weeks I thought about little else. I prayed about it for a while, then one Sunday afternoon I walked into the house after church, went to my bedroom, and sat down in front of my computer. 

Four months later I finished my first novel, Twisted. That was a year and a half and two novels ago. So I guess you could say my love for reading a good book was my inspiration to write. Now, I’m hooked and when I have one of those dreams or nightmares that stick with me long after I’ve awaken, I know the beginning of my next novel has just been born.

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Having dreams like that sound awesome. :D I can't say I have similar dreams. But I can see how they inspire you. Thank you so much for this guestpost Robin!