Candace Sams - Meet the Muse - His Holiday Miracle

Welcome to my new feature to support my fellow authors from The Wild Rose Press! I will be featuring one author for each letter of the alphabet. I also created a few new guest post options, which I hope you'll enjoy. For this one, I ask authors to tell us about their muse.

Please help me to welcome the author for C . . . Candace Sams!

1. Tell us about your recent release.

His Holiday Miracle is my most recent release.

Blurb:

Rorn T’Kar, Commander of the allied ship Verdon, returns home after battling Earth's enemies for five long years. His one regret is that the woman he still loves, and who broke their engagement, was killed in battle. If a miracle was what he needed, he’s about to find it…on his front lawn!

BUY LINKS:

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google

2. Who is your muse?

My muses are my fictional heroes…in my latest work-in-progress. These heroes usually come to mind when I’m doing something quite mundane…like grouting tile, mowing the lawn or weeding flower beds. I don’t know how many entire plots I’ve devised while mopping floors or lifting weights. I was cleaning the attic once when I came up with the entire plot to a space super novel that was contracted by Simon & Schuster’s Crimson imprint.

3. What does your muse look like?

Since my muse is my current hero in my current work-in-progress…he’s usually an alpha male; usually something from legend, fantasy or an idea from research. In other words, I tend to write characters who live in a paranormal landscape. Lately, I’ve been very hung up on any man/muse who looks like ‘Thor’. (Maybe that’s because I love binge-watching Marvel movies…Stan Lee rocks!).

4. Describe your muse’s personality.

My muse’s (my hero’s) personality is generally dark. Again, since my muses are my fictional heroes, they’ve got an extensive history that I’ve imagined beforehand, before I’ve ever written anything on paper. I sort of use the old stage technique of ‘method acting’ to devise the character’s personality and history. This makes him more realistic to me when I write. I think about what the character would do, what they’d feel, how they’d act, and what they’d say in any given situation. Then, I can begin to write him. Each of my characters has an entire history, some of which might not be used in the book.

5. How do you tempt your muse to work?

I must write when I feel like it. That means I might write 10 pages a day, or 30 pages or only 3. There isn’t any amount of prodding, from any source, that can force me to sit and write if I’m not in the mood. I don’t promise myself, or anyone else, that I will sit and write 3000 words each day, for example. To me, that’s forcing something that should come naturally. Some days, 10,000 words might seem natural. On other days, I can’t write a paragraph. Moreover, if I try to write when that muse (whatever someone deems that to be) isn’t there…the resulting reading material is quite poor. It looks like it was forced. I wouldn’t line my cat’s litter box with it! So…I write when the feeling is there. On some of ‘those’ days (when I really am motivated by my character/muse) I can write 30 pages without stopping. 

6. When/where does your muse inspire you the most?

My muses hit me when it’s most inconvenient. Examples: cooking, washing the dog, planting bulbs, mudding a drywall, etc. Don’t know why, that’s just the way I get my ideas. That’s when my male characters (my muses) grab my attention. I think it has something to do with the brain being more receptive to ideas when you’re doing stuff that doesn’t require a lot of thought.

7. Has your muse ever gone on strike?

Oh yeah! I’ve had days when I didn’t want to write a single thing again! But it’s not due to the lack of any ‘muse’. This circumstance is usually a result of how difficult this business can be. After twenty+ years, you sometimes get tired of all the stuff you put up with while writing. At The Wild Rose Press, I have one of the best editors in Faith V. Smith. She gets me motivated. I’m lucky to have had her contract my work over the years.

8. What would your muse’s motto be to get your butt into gear?

“If you don’t write me, I’m dead to the world.” That’s the main thing that keeps me writing. I have stories in my brain…heroes who want their stories told. If I don’t get those stories out, then only I ever know about the characters’ lives, loves and adventures. In my mind, while I’m writing, my characters are very real. I write my stories like a movie playing out in my mind. I literally see and her what my characters are doing.

9. What was your relationship like with your muse while writing His Holiday Miracle?

What was my relationship like while writing His Holiday Miracle? Well…there are a lot of Veterans living in my neighborhood. My muse (hero) came to me when I saw what these Vets were going through, trying to get back to their normal lives with family and friends. So, I extrapolated what I was seeing, and sort of blended it into a hero who then wrote his ‘own’ story. Once my muse starts talking loud and clear, I usually have no problem getting his story out.

10. Are you and your muse working on something new?

My latest muse (hero) is from outer space. I seem to be getting a lot of ‘muse motivation’ from the future these days. I won’t give the title away, but my latest muse is, again, a dark character. He’s seen way too much, been through too much, and needs some tender loving care. But, I never write anything without a happy ending. There’s enough sadness in life without me adding to it. So, my hero will get everything he deserves to live happily ever after.

Candace Sams (aka C.S. Chatterly) has published over sixty titles in the fantasy, science fiction, paranormal and action-adventure genres. She’s received more than thirty awards from various organizations, and is a five-time National Readers’ Choice Award® winner. Her Tales of The Order™ series and other titles are now being vetted for movie options. Hailing from Texas, Candace and her husband live in a rural area of the USA. A plethora of dogs and cats have adopted them. 

She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted through Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/CandaceSamsAuthor/ or Twitter (@CandaceSams). Also contact her from these websites: www.candacesams.com or www.cschatterly.com.



Thank you for sharing His Holiday Miracle with us, Candace!

Please leave Candace a comment!