A Simple day. A Simple Man. A BIG TOPIC! The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Do you ever wonder where authors get their material for their books, or musicians for their songs, or poets for their poems? I do. I wonder what they were going through at the time, or what message they wanted to convey. I wonder if it has anything to do with their real life or past experiences. Is it all made up? Is some of it based on real situations? I have to think that often, it is.
For most of my books, I got the ideas from dreams (or nightmares). I have struggled with insomnia for as long as I can remember. The end result is after finally tossing and turning, sleep almost automatically glides into REM or deep sleep. I’ve woken up from nightmares not knowing if they were real or not until I finally got my eyes open wide enough to realize, “Ok, so I’m not running in a forest right now and there are no prehistoric monsters chasing me. Whew, that was a close one!”
One of my recent books, “The Light at the End of the Tunnel” started about six years ago. I was in New York at the time, sitting on a train. In front of me, was a well-dressed man, literally doing nothing. For some reason, after sitting across from him for an hour, I was intrigued. The blessing (curse?) of an overactive imagination. I didn’t speak to him, nor him to me. Nothing exciting was going on. He didn’t say anything or do anything odd. It was a very uneventful trip. However, I wanted to base my character on him. I have no clue as to why.
When I got back to Las Vegas, I began writing. The original title was going to be “The Man on the Train.” But, then I realized there are a lot of titles like that. A Man on a Train, a Girl on a Dragon. Someone is always going somewhere.
Then, the pandemic hit. That poor man in my book had been sitting on that train for over five years. My friend, Crystal Clary, and I often joked. She’d ask me, “So, is that man ever going to disembark that train?”
“Soon,” I’d answer. “Soon.”
Once I decided to give him a destination, the entire dynamic had changed. People in my life had passed away. I learned a lot more about anxiety and depression that I had ever wanted to. Strangers would even talk to me about it, unbeknownst to them that I was in the midst of writing a book based on anxiety. Even one of my doctors told me a story about her days with anxiety. Out of the blue, during my checkup, she just started rambling. I felt I was on the right “track.” Yes, pun intended.
So, with a little tender, love, and care, Carter had a destination, both figuratively and literally. I wanted to open the door for people to feel comfortable with anxiety. News flash, It’s not Taboo! It doesn’t make you weak (or strong if you don’t have it). It makes you human. Ugh, I think I’d rather be weak! 😊
So, just a little inside information on how “The Light at the End of the Tunnel” was born. A simple day, a simple man. A BIG TOPIC!
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