Sometimes inspiration comes out of the blue and takes me into a land of story. When this happens, then characters also begin to appear. Some writers develop their characters from people-watching but when I was writing my Lumenor trilogy, because it was fantasy, the characters often arose from the effect of particular landscapes working on my imagination, or sometimes originated from the magic of myths and legends, which brought their own inspiration.

​The lives and personalities of characters develop as a story unfolds and though I always know how the tale begins and ends, the middle is like fertile ground that influences the possibilities. When the soil in the garden of my imagination gives birth to new characters, they will usually name themselves quite spontaneously and because I am also a very visual creature, they will often appear on the canvas of my mind as bright images, painted from an artist’s palette of colour – height, build, colouring, etc.  The characters, begin to develop their own individual voices in which I can relate their stories. Often they take over, so that their dialogue and the scenarios they play out surprise me, since the content may be composed of ideas I didn’t know I had. They fit together then, in ways I had not expected, creating equally surprising conclusions as I begin to live in their world, listening to the stream of dialogue flowing through me.
 
Of course, I live in South Wales and not in Lumenor, though the boundaries between legend and reality can blur whilst I am writing. Closing the file at the end of a session is like closing a Unicorn Gate and re-entering the everyday world.
 
Writing poetry and reflections, I connect to the ever-flowing stream of inspiration as it flows through me connecting my imagination and life experience to the living breathing universe we all live in. The Welsh Bards referred to the stream of inspiration as AWEN. In one of my Italian poems, much inspired by the art in Rome as well as the landscape, I described it as the Language of Angels.
 
I am taking a break right now from the Legends of Lumenor, though I still have a set of keys to re-open the Unicorn Gate should I want to return to this mystic magical world later. Meanwhile, I continue to produce poetry and reflections for a possible future collection as I wait for the angels to sing or the stream of Awen to flow with ideas for a new writing project.
 
May the Harp of Creation sing for you.
 
Iona

Author, writer and poet, Iona Jenkins, is delighted by the continued support and good wishes from her readers If you have read and enjoyed any of her books, please take the time to write a review on Amazon. It makes all the difference.

​Thank you in advance!

The December dawn pictures were taken by Iona from her balcony. 

Books by Iona Jenkins, author, writer and poet.

Tune in to the Ceri Stennett Show on Radio Cardiff (98.7 FM) this morning (22nd May) at 11:30 to hear Iona Jenkins talk about her writing life, her books and her latest release The Starlit Door.