What Inspired Me? Christy Cooper-Burnett, Author of No Way Home

What inspired your book? Fans often ask authors this question, and while it’s a straightforward question, it rarely comes with a simple answer. I find the short answer to the subject of inspiration usually involves a far more detailed explanation when we delve into the heart of it.

In my case, a dream inspired my novel No Way Home. That’s the short answer. I had a very vivid dream of myself typing a story on an old typewriter. I had the basic premise of a woman trapped in history, but not much beyond that. I recalled her feeling of despair and helplessness, and that she had no choice but to carry on, hoping to make it home. The dream stayed with me into the following day. I couldn’t shake it, and I mentioned it to my son.

He encouraged me to write the story, and while I worried I wouldn’t do it justice, I began taking notes and putting my ideas on paper.
My vision did not end with the dream. If it had, the book might never have been, as many things inspired me along the road to completion. As the storyline developed in my mind, I wondered how I would react in that position. How might the event change me?

What effect would this have on my family if I were missing? What would I do to survive? I have always been a fan of time travel books—the possibility fascinates me. I envisioned myself in the protagonist’s position, in a grove of trees with nothing but the clothes on my back, stranded hundreds of years in the past. The thought was terrifying, but pushed me to channel the fear into inspiration when writing about the protagonist’s ordeal.

I imagined the panic, frustration and powerlessness she would encounter. Then I pictured doing it alone. That heightened the emotional level for me tenfold. I visualized being alone with no one to lean on, without support. Isolation in an already formidable situation might thrust an average person into panic, and I concentrated on evoking emotions to push that fear to the surface.

I kept a writing journal and was constantly jotting down my thoughts and ideas. Once every few days, I read over my remarks and used them to drive the book forward. My journal helped me to include details I thought might be interesting to readers. For example, while I focused the protagonist on staying alive and getting home, she would certainly worry about her family left behind. She wavered between trying to get home and struggling to endure.

Today’s justice system was another source of insight for me, and infusing crime and punishment into the time travel storyline took shape in my mind. We overcrowd prisons, criminals plea-bargain out of prison sentences, and we release inmates early because of
the overcrowding. What if society no longer tolerated those programs? What solution might the government create if we made a criminal responsible for their crimes with no hope of an early discharge?

What would happen if an attorney could not negotiate their client out of a prison sentence? I thought of the outcome if the state no longer wanted to rehabilitate violent offenders. If we sentenced them to life, prisons would reach capacity quickly, and with technology advancing at its current rate, cyber-criminals would soon become a principal part of the overpopulation issues in a highly technological society.

Another significant point of inspiration was my passion for history and all things yesteryear. I’ve always been an avid reader, and as a child I devoured books about living in another era. Little House on the Prairie, Hans Christian Andersen fairytales—anything that swept
me backward in time.

I loved to imagine what life was like in those bygone generations. To cook over an open fire, sleep under the stars or live in a grand castle on the other side of the world all appealed to my sense of adventure.

My love of history continued into adulthood, and I often mused that I could transition into the past seamlessly. Penning No Way Home was the perfect opportunity for me to jump into the past and write about life hundreds of years ago. After all, I have appreciated this topic for
years! I have been drafting this tale since I was a kid, I just didn’t realize it. When I pretended I was traveling on a wagon train, surviving as a pioneer, or playing dress up and living in a castle, I was constructing the framework for later inspiration. I have always believed living
in another generation would be an astonishing experience and I’m drawn to many eras.

My focal point when writing the book was to target the adventure genre rather than the science fiction category. The spotlight is on the characters and their experience, not the technical aspect of time travel itself. I gathered inspiration for the emotional facet of the story by
immersing myself in no technology, isolated from the world for one day. I turned my phone, computer, and television off, and I didn’t allow myself to read.

That one day provided me perspective on just how reliant we are on technology and the degree of culture shock a time- traveler would encounter. Thrown back in time suddenly would be a jarring experience and a crash course in resilience. Self-preservation is our strongest instinct, and I strove to capture those struggles in the character’s story.

—
Christy Cooper-Burnett is an author based in California with a degree in Administration of Justice. After retiring early from the new home construction industry she now divides her time between northern and southern California. She has a grown son who inspires her and sparks her creativity. She began her writing career later in life, but once she started she couldn’t stop!
Her work focuses on creating relatable stories and characters that transcend genres and encourage readers to imagine what they would do if thrown into the unique, imaginative situations her protagonists end up in.

—

NO WAY HOME

Christine Stewart is a regular woman just doing her job when she gets stranded in history.  Her plan for the day is simple: wake up, head off to work, traveling to Oklahoma in 1867 to deport a cyber-criminal. After work, it’s back to 2070 Los Angeles to prepare for a vacation with her son, Michael.

That’s the plan.

Then the system fails, leaving Christine stranded with no supplies and minimal training. What began as a bad situation only gets worse when she is flung even further away to a place in time where her choices and actions mean so much more to the world than whether or not she ever makes it back home again.

As her goals shift from simply getting home to something much more dire, she must make the choice between what is easy and what is right–even if it costs her everything. Including her one chance of ever getting home.

Social Media Links:
https://christycooperburnett.com/

https://twitter.com/christycooperb1
https://instagram.com/christycooperburnett
https://www.facebook.com/Christy-Cooper-Burnett-Author-118766569519394/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/No-Way-Home-Christy-Cooper-Burnett/dp/1684335027/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=no+way+home&qid=1583556273&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/no-way-home-christy-cooper-burnett/1136458871?ean=9781684335022

Black Rose Writing: https://www.blackrosewriting.com/scififantasy/nowayhome?rq=no%20way%20home 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips