One of the most common questions authors face is a deceptively difficult one to answer: “Where do you get your ideas?” Yet, the answers to that common question can be almost as interesting as the resulting story. Welcome to You’re My Inspiration, a new column dedicated to discovering what inspires a particular author and their work. Whether it be a lifelong love of mythical creatures, a fascinating bit of history, or a trip to a new and exciting place, You’re My Inspiration is all about those special and sometimes dark things that spark ideas and result in great stories.
This week, we bring you author Emily McKay, whose latest release, Storybound, was released from Entangled Teen on May 5th! What inspired Emily to write about what happens when a book boyfriend comes to life, and you can change his fate? Let Emily tell you….
It’s All Real
With most of my books, I don’t remember the exact moment of their inception. I have vague ideas about, “I think I was driving.” Or “Well, I’ve always liked this song and.…”
But this book, Storybound, I know the moment I imagined the book.
I was getting off a plane in Chicago …
No, wait. Let me back up. Because this is the important part.
I love the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher. I love the books. I love the audiobooks. I even love the TV show, short-lived though it was. I love the world. I love that it’s complicated and dense and that Butcher is never afraid to play the long game … sometimes the really long game.
He’s not afraid to plant seeds that don’t pan out for several books. He trusts that the reader will stick with it. I just … Sigh.
I could talk for hours about Harry Dresden. And yes, I bet you could see this coming, those books are set in Chicago.
A couple of years ago, a friend and I were heading to Chicago for a conference. As we’re getting off the plane, I said, “How cool would it be if we didn’t land in the real Chicago, but instead landed in Harry Dresden’s Chicago?”
We both stopped. We looked at each other. At the same time, we said, “That’s a great idea for a book!”
All good books take longer to write than you think. And it took me years to get from that single sentence to a completed novel. In this case, a YA fantasy novel about a girl who moves to the city where her favorite books are set (in this case Austin, Texas) and when she walks through the doors of BookPeople, she walks into the world of those books. It’s all real. The good guys, the bad guys, the book boyfriend she’s been in love with forever. The book boyfriend who dies at the end of the last book….
Except he isn’t dead. Not yet anyway. And if she plays her cards right, she just might be able to save his life.
But of course, Harry Dresden isn’t the only inspiration for Storybound. Because as much as I love Harry, it’s not actually all about me. It’s about the power of story. The power that story holds over all of us. All the people who love story and books and movies. So there are tiny bits of all the fandoms I love in the book. There are moments inspired by Harry Potter — because, hello? Who doesn’t love Harry Potter? But also subtle nods to Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Princess Bride.
But there is one more story that really inspired me. I would almost go so far as to say it guided me as I was writing. Galaxy Quest.
To me, Galaxy Quest is the ultimate ode to fandom, right? It’s so good. Think about when it was made — twenty years ago now. Most of the world was still making fun of nerds. Of fans.
But not Galaxy Quest. Galaxy Quest somehow acknowledges how absurd our devotion is while honoring it at the same time. And it’s funny as hell.
Every time I got off track when I was writing, I went back and tried to channel the pure joy that kid Brandon feels when he learns “it’s all real.”
I didn’t set out to write Galaxy Quest with magic for teenagers. But I was really excited when I figured out that’s what I could do with this book.
I would love to hear what fictional world you would love to get lost in! Because they are probably different than mine. And, let’s face it, we could all use another world to get lost in right now.
In the meantime, please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
Emily McKay writes the kinds of books she wants to read — fast-paced with snarky heroines and swoony heroes who inhabit fascinating worlds you want to get lost in. She loves stories, pop culture, celebrity gossip, and baked goods. She’s a modern-day hippie and certified LEGO nerd.
Emily lives in the Texas Hill Country with her geeky husband and their two extremely geeky kids. They have dogs, chickens, cats, and more LEGOs than should be allowed by law. Oh, and she stress bakes. So if her characters talk about food a lot, that’s why.
Photo by Lara Lynn Kennedy
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Thanks for joining us, Emily! Your book sounds like a lot of fun!