Welcome to my four part blog series about the things that have inspired The Luke Bright Series. The fourth and final blog is about the people that have inspired my writing and in me becoming a writer. Find the links for the previous three blogs in the series below:
Luke Bright dreams of being a revolutionary and I have always used inspiration from previous revolutionary figures and their hardships, their determination and journeys when writing the series but also in daily life. The main ones are Martin Luther King Junior, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela and Joan of Arc as well as others throughout history who have changed their world and our world for the better. They were all human, not super-natural, just normal people, but people who had vision.
The following quote from Martin Luther King Jnr completely sums up Luke Bright: “I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” It was also the centenary of Nelson Mandela last week – and the following quote from him fits Luke even better. “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” For someone who takes on a cause as big as fighting against the Atlantic Split, it’s only right for Luke to have figures like these as people he can look up to and aspire to be like.
As a writer, and I have mentioned it many times before, but my idol is J.K. Rowling. Not just because I grew up reading Harry Potter but because of her struggle to become a writer. From where she came to where she ended up is one of the greatest success stories I’ve heard in terms of writers and of humans. The quote: “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life” completely just sums up her attitude to adversity and everyone can take a leaf out of her book and her books. The woman is an inspiration in herself and without her, I wouldn’t be a writer. Many people wouldn’t be writers and the world would be a lot less magical than it is today.
I do sometimes use the people I know, inspiration from family and friends, in my books. If you know me personally and can see similarities between you and a character then that may or may not be intentional. However, in the first few drafts, a lot of secondary characters were based on people I knew, just because I wanted to include more of my own life in these books. However, people change and you lose touch, so now I may just use the odd trait or memory as opposed to entire characters. Plus, it’s better to use a culmination of different traits and inspirations to create your own characters. Much more fun and much more realistic.
Finally, as I mentioned in last week’s blog, I have always felt I’ve lived my life in parallel with my books. Whenever I need advice, I know the first place to look is in Luke’s life because he’s probably been through something similar before- whether it be intentionally similar or unintentionally. I certainly do base a lot of Luke upon myself, and I’ve always said that if someone wants to truly know who I am and more about me, read my writing as it’s the place where I am the most honest. So really, the main inspiration I have is myself.
Thank you for reading my inspiration blog series, I hope it’s given a good insight on me as a writer and what drives me to write. I’ll be back next Thursday with a brand new blog, I’ll see you back here then!
Atlantic Split is the first book in The Luke Bright Series and is available to purchase NOW! Please follow me on my blog and my social media links below and use the links on my website to purchase a copy if you have not done so. Don’t forget to leave a review! The second book, At Liberty To Live will be released in AUTUMN 2018. Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.
N.A.K.
Neil A. King 