Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes: The Mountain’s Shadow

Hi, there, and welcome to this week’s Behind the Scenes post!

I started writing The Mountain’s Shadow in 2004 while I was on internship at the Central Arkansas VA, and it had some unlikely inspiration. The following material is from a post I did on the subject for the now defunct Ink & Paper books blog when the book originally came out in 2013. Enjoy!

Inspiration comes in the most unlikely of places. Several months ago, I asked my fellow Twitter writing friends what they found to be the most annoying writing advice. One adage that came up repeatedly was “write what you know.”

Okay, that makes sense if you take it literally because even with research, some experiences are beyond us. For example, I’ll never know what it’s like to be fired from a dream research job in the pharmaceutical industry like Doctor Joanie Fisher, the heroine of my novel The Mountain’s Shadow. But even though I can’t know exactly what it’s like, I know the feeling of being disappointed and facing major defeat on a personal level. The year before I wrote The Mountain’s Shadow, I failed on my first try to match for a predoctoral psychology internship.

Not matching for internship doesn’t sound like that big a deal unless you know the consequences. First, it’s a requirement to graduate from a doctoral psychology program, in my case Ph.D., so it put me behind a year in both school and life and threatened my desired career path. I had a serious boyfriend (now my husband) who was waiting until I was closer to being done before he proposed because we knew we’d have to live apart, possibly far apart, for a year. I was also going to lose my cohort, the people I’d been through the ups and downs of graduate school with.

That’s the experience I brought to writing my novel, which opens with my heroine Joanie Fisher facing three huge setbacks: she’s been fired, which also causes her to lose her lover, and her beloved grandfather has gone missing. Sure, he’s left her his multimillion dollar estate in the Ozarks, but since she doesn’t know with certainty that he’s dead, and the handsome, intense Leo Bowman seems to feel he can challenge her claim on it, she can’t really believe it’s hers.

My unexpected delay also gave me the setting and another layer of inspiration for The Mountain’s Shadow. I matched the second try to the Central Arkansas VA, to which I hadn’t applied the first time. That VA draws veterans from all around including the mountains, and they loved to tell stories of the strange things they’d seen in those woods. I’d visited the Ozarks previously, but talking to these veterans gave me a good environment for my werewolves, the local flavor of “tall tales” with an element of truth, and a sense of the dialect. Placing it in the Ozarks caught my editor’s attention because she lives there, so my defeat also indirectly led to my first contract.

Trust me, it took a long time before I could look back and see how not matching for internship the first try ended up being a good thing. Our characters experience the same — initial devastation that they have to overcome so that their lives end up better. I can’t claim that all my setbacks have worked out that well. I’m grateful this one did and that it showed me how write what I know from an emotional level, from experience, and from researching through listening to the stories of others and by reading werewolf legend and lore.

So, tell me, which of your setbacks in life has led to something good? Or, if you haven’t had any or don’t wish to share, that’s cool, please let me know what your favorite type of shifter is.

Cheers!

The Mountain’s Shadow is currently available from Amazon and is free in Kindle Unlimited.

12 comments on “Behind the Scenes: The Mountain’s Shadow

I’d get it if it wasn’t in Amazon! Sorry.

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Cecilia

Hi, Jeanette, no worries! I’ll be bringing this series wide in July, so you’ll be able to get it on your platform of choice then. Thanks so much for your comment!

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Sandy Brown

I personally haven’t had the chance to read your stories yet, but hoping to soon. I’ve also heard that saying โ€œwrite what you know.โ€ It always sounded kinda dumb to me cause I’m an avid reader of paranormal & realistically speaking there are no vampires, werewolves, etc. Wish there were, but there aren’t. I’ve actually written short stories, {never published & never tried}, but they’re from my dreams. Well except one. My daughter was in grade school and had to write a story, only a page or 2, called Candy Land. I helped her, {really I wrote it}, and it was about 5 pages long. I kinda got carried away. ๐Ÿ™‚ We got an A++ because the teacher loved it so much, and she passed it around to all the other teachers. But I can see how you would take from your life, even if you manipulate it a bit, and incorporate it into your stories. That’s totally smart. I can’t wait til I can get a minute and read this book. I have no favorite type of shifter, or any paranormal, I love them all. ๐Ÿ™‚

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Cecilia

Hi, Sandy, thank you so much for your story and comment! There is nothing wrong with writing for the joy of it. In fact, that’s the best reason to write. Have a lovely rest of your Mother’s Day! <3

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Tina R

I don’t have a favorite shifter since I haven’t found one I did not like yet. ๐Ÿ™‚

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Cecilia

Hi, Tina, LOL – great answer. Thanks for your comment!

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Lieve Bartolucci

So nice to read the background to the story. It is my all time favorite, because I recognize so much of you in this book! I can relate to so many little things in it.

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Cecilia

Thanks, Mom! I’m so glad you loved the story. I guess since it’s my first book I couldn’t help but put myself in it. ๐Ÿ™‚

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Suzanne Jane

After reading how you come up with your ideas and video on how visualize them as animals turning back to human sounds so cool. It is on my TBR list.

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Cecilia

Thanks, Suzanne! I hope you enjoy it.

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Angela Sanford

Hi Cecilia,
I have had a lot of setbacks in my life but the biggest challenge so far is at the present time. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer 18 months ago. I have undergone several treatments of Chemotherapy and radiation. I was told recently that there wasn’t anything else that can be done. It has spread into my bones and Lymph nodes. The biggest blessing that has came from all of this, is that I have grown strong in my faith and it has made others, that know me, to be Thankful each day for even the small things. I haven’t had a chance to read your books but I am definitely going to.

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Cecilia

Wow, thank you for sharing your situation, Angela. Lots of hugs and prayers coming your way! <3

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