Guest Post: Ela Lond, Author of the Moon's Reflection Series

Inspiration by Ela Lond

Some time ago I was sitting in a coffee shop with my friend, giving her a summary of a story I was working on with lots of gesturing and additional explanations of the backstory which almost always ended with ‘well, anyway…’. And after I finished my tale, wondering if I had included everything, she asked me: “How do you come up with this stuff?”

“Well, I don’t know,” I said, since I’ve never really thought about where I get my inspiration. “I guess I just pick up things along the way, mix them all together and this is the result.”

So when I got this opportunity to do a guest blog (thanks to Melissa and Jen) I asked if there was any theme they were interested in and got the answer that they would love to read about how authors get his/her inspiration for stories or books.

I had to think about this one: Where do I get my inspiration? And I found out that the better question would be: Where do I not get inspiration?

I collect impressions wherever I go, but if I lack inspiration or I need an idea I go to YouTube to watch trailers and fan-made videos, browse through heise’s and feimo’s galleries on deviantART, or go listen to my soundtrack collection.

I have even written one or two short stories based on the music. For example, “Fall Vol. 3” is inspired by “Hope vol. 2” and “Path” by Apocalyptica, which I had on repeat while I wrote the story, and “Lost” was inspired by Coheed and Cambria’s “Deranged.”

Music also helps me to get into the right mood. For example, while writing Red Moon’s Reflection I mainly listened to ”The  Dark Crow Smiles” from Kuroshitsuji OST and Gackt’s “Redemption” (the “Redemption” video also served as inspiration for Damon). And now, while writing the second part of Silver Moon’s Reflection, I’m enjoying the David Guetta’s “When Love Takes Over.” 

I already mentioned that I collect impressions and those impressions can become ideas, which I let grow and expand and merge with other ideas until they are ripe enough to be plucked. And if the idea is picked up too early it soon loses its momentum and another, stronger  idea/inspiration can quickly sidetrack me, but so I don’t forget them, I write them down in my little notebooks. The notebooks also serve to keep track of the characters, their traits, some facts, dialogues, etc.

The idea for the Moon’s Reflection series is quite old, since I let it grow and develop until I felt it was ready to be released into the world, and it’s based on ‘what if’.

In old folk stories vampires are seen as monsters, dead that need to drink blood to prolong their existence into eternity. They were monsters, something like zombies. But then with Bram Stoker’s Dracula vampires became more refined. What if those two variations were actually two different creatures? What if Bram Stoker’s Dracula wasn’t dead, didn’t had all the traditional vampires’ flaws and didn’t only prey on humans, but also on the older vampires from folklore? What if there was a whole society of them living in the shadows of the night, influencing human civilisation since the dawn of time? Lurking, living, fighting among themselves, using people -- and we don’t have a clue about them, except the odd story here and there.

This is my backstory, but the story itself is about Tina, an outsider, and we get to learn about Bloodeaters’ society through her. 

On her trip to Venice she meets Damon Blackdart, the leader of the Lost clan, and he pulls her into that world full of shadows (sometimes even literally). It’s scary for Tina to learn about a society whose members live by feeding on blood and which consists of dark inhabitants:  Akilueteers (Deadeaters or, as we call them, vampires), the Elders, the Shadows, and even the more normal-looking Lueeshareteers (Bloodeaters). That’s why the first book in the series, Red Moon’s Reflection, has a dark feel to it compared to its sequels.

In the next book in the series, Blue Moon’s Reflection, Tina travels around with her newfound family, the Dumes, and has become accustomed to the darkness that rules in the Bloodeaters’ world. She is more focused on herself and her new powers while they are searching for Damon.

And in the third book, Silver Moon’s Reflection, which hasn’t been released yet, Tina is well used to the society she has joined, and on her journey to the Resting Circle she has to confront her feelings toward Damon. Now, since she has already adapted to the Bloodeaters’ world, rare is the thing that can scare her anymore, so the horror aspect is lessened in this book and the story itself is more focused on the romance between Tina and Damon.

You can visit Ela Lond on her website, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and Amazon. 

You can also WIN books from Ela in our 1000 + Celebration Giveaway. Click HERE to enter and win!