Fun Facts!
#1
The Psychic Roundtable is a spinoff of an actual Writers Roundtable that I attended for about a decade in Tulsa. It was headed by Peggy Fielding, my mentor and Quintara in the book. She taught fiction and nonfiction writing at a community college and she would pluck the best students from the classes and offer them a seat at the Roundtable. There was always a waiting list of people dying to get in it! I was fortunate and was allowed in after only a few months of begging. Peggy could see that I was hungry and working my tail off to finish a novel and submit it. Every Friday night we met at Peggy’s – me and about 12 to 15 others. Peggy would read 10 pages from our books (we had to submit them a week early so that she could read and edit them). Then we would go around and each person would comment on what worked and didn’t work for them. It was the best education I ever received and is how I became a published author!
My interest in psychics.
When I was in high school I met an extraordinary young man. He possessed ESP talents and he had a photographic memory. He could read a textbook and then ace every test because he could recall every word in the book! He could also read minds, so we could never play cards with him. Years later Robby (the ESP guy) called me and told me that my boyfriend (who was also his friend) had been hurt and that I should brace myself to receive some bad news. He said that Ace was alive, but he was badly hurt. That’s all he knew. He had sensed it. Five minutes later I received a phone call from an overseas hospital. Ace had been in a bad car crash (he’d been a Formula I racer at the time) and I was listed as the person to call in case of emergencies. Spooky! But Robby could do (and still does!) things like that.
So since then I’ve been interested in psychics. The real deals. I’ve met some Gypsies in my time who were more bluff than the real stuff. In talking to psychics, I found that most of them had difficulty dealing with their gifts and have felt like outcasts. That always intrigued me because I do think it must be a gift that often feels like a burden.
Key West
I had never given much thought to reincarnation until I drove into Key West the first time in my life. Weirdly, I was very familiar with the place! I drove right to Ernest Hemingway’s house without glancing at a map. I knew the streets and how to get to the major sites without consulting a map. Even at Hemingway’s house, I felt as if I had been there before. The only conclusion I could come to was that I must have lived in Key West in a past life. I felt a solid connection to it. When I looked back, even my decision to travel there was odd. We were discussing where we would vacation and looking around at southern states and – out of the blue – I pointed to Key West and said, “This is where I want to go.” I’d never given it any thought until then, but at that moment I was determined to go to the Keys. And since then I have been drawn back to them again and again. The only other place I’ve felt a real pull to is Crete. I don’t know why, but when I see pictures of Crete I’m spellbound and I feel a strong connection.
50 Shades of Sexy
“Through His Eyes” has been rolling about in my head for a decade. I have started to write it several times and lost steam or chickened out (because it was different from anything else I’d written and my editors and agents were never all that interested in me trying something different). But then I read Fifty Shades of Grey and it was like a starter gun exploded inside me! I gobbled up all three of those books and they fueled me to write “Through His Eyes.” They gave me the direction I needed. I love a “wounded” or “misunderstood” hero and Christian embodied that and more! Suddenly, I was inspired to go ahead and tell Levi’s story, and this time I didn’t give a damn if any editor or agent was interested. I wanted to tell the story and I was determined to do so. It was a joy and relief to finally let it fly without worrying if I could do it justice or if anyone would even be interested in publishing it. So, I have E.L. James to thank for kicking my butt and inspiring me.