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

Happy New Year to my readers, hope it's happy healthy and prosperous for you all. I'd also like peace on Earth but I guess that's a tall order. ​

I thought that the Christmas period might put an end to writing and that I would be taking a break, but being in Lincolnshire, I couldn't resist spending time walking through the woods which surround the village of Woodhall Spa, a place which affords me enjoyable short walks and a coffee in the bookshop cafe.

​The day was still, bright with sunshine and that always brings a beautiful lighting effect into a walk through trees. The council have kindly put a few benches at strategic places along the many paths which cut through the trees in all directions and although they are a little weathered and mossy, it's good to sit down, watch the sunlight filtering through the high trees, the squirrels running along the branches and to listen to the birds. I was even lucky enough to spot a small deer in there once. It was Christmas week and also the Winter Solstice, I sat on one of the benches  and put my notebook, pen and specs down next to me, when a breeze blew up from nowhere and started whooshing through the treetops. The atmosphere changed and my mind was catapulted into a youthful memory that generated a piece of prose. I scribbled down the words which began to flow through my mind like a stream and now, since I returned home, I have been working on it, honing the lines until it had filled a full side of A4.

​This has formed item number 30 in a new collection of Poems and Reflections that I am working on alongside the third book of my Lumenor Trilogy which is tween fiction. I've discovered that the Muse never takes time off, it leaves my flat and comes with me whenever I go away. It costs me a fortune in notebooks and biros, I can't type fast enough on a small phone screen.  

​Once more, compliments of the season.

Iona Jenkins