As I’ve been working through this latest draft of my novel, I’ve been hard pressed to stay filled up creatively and mine all avenues of inspiration. So, for this post, I wanted to share some of the things/people/sayings that inspire me as a storyteller (in no particular order).

So let’s get started.

1. Pretty books. As in, books that are just visually appealing.
2. Fire. Give me all the candles. And also the matches. And also an adorable little oil lamp.
3. Lovely words. I.E. – words that just sound or look lovely. Esperance. Immure. Anathema. Temerity. Duende. Equipoise. Tyro. Aeonian. Chimerical. Those are all English words, and they. are. beautiful.
4. Isaiah 35. This chapter. Oh, goodness. I want to tell of these streams in the desert and waters in the wasteland and the God who put them there.
5. Wonder Woman. That’s right. The movie Wonder Woman inspires me so much as a storyteller. Don’t even get me started.
6. Basically any song by The Gray Havens.
7. “We write down made-up stories to tell the truths we wish we could say out loud.” – Unknown.
8. My brother, Caleb.
9. Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. *whispers* It’s just. so. good.
10. Christopher Nolan. Caleb (the aforementioned brother who inspires me as a storyteller and also just as a person) pointed out to me that Christopher Nolan has directed a superhero trilogy, a movie on interstellar travel, and is now coming out with a World War II movie. And he’s done it all so well. I want tell stories like him.
11. “You must write every single day of your life. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. May you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake the world.” – Ray Bradbury.
12. The Lord of the Rings. It’s a morally beautiful story, it’s a masterfully built storyworld, and it’s timeless.
13. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Now I need to go watch this movie again because it’s been a couple months.
14. The Gospels. This is the story I want to tell over and over and over again, and I want a piece of it reflected in some way in all the stories I write.
15. C.S. Lewis.
16. Anything written by C.S. Lewis.
17. The ocean. I’ve only seen the ocean once, but when I did, just sitting out by it at sunrise was incredible.
18. Limitless (the tv show). Heroes who are good are not out of style.
19. Ecclesiastes 9:10.
20. Empty notebooks. I just want to smell their pages and fill them all.
21. “You can make anything by writing.” – C.S. Lewis
22. Nadine Brandes.
23. Havah by Tosca Lee. The richness of this book, the poetry of the prose, the thought in the story. Agh. So good.
24. Thunderstorms. Lightning is literally exploding through the air, and water is falling from the sky. People, this is inspiring.
25. The Dark Knight Trilogy.
26. The Out of Time Series by Nadine Brandes. Are any of us surprised?
27. Mary Weber. The pieces of her heart I’ve seen through her writing are a-mazing.
28. Arrival. So, this was kind of weird and not the best movie I’ve seen, but they tried to do something different and tell a story in a way that stretches the mind. Oh, and it’s all about the power of a language.
29. Steve Laube. I had the pleasure of having an appointment with him at Realm Makers 2015, and then I got to sit in on one of his sessions. Oh. Goodness. He knows the power of stories and the responsibility of storytellers who are Christians.
30. The Lion King. Don’t even get me started, kids.
31. Isaiah 6:1-7. I will retell this in any way I can.
32. My dad.

So that’s it, kids! Those are 32 things that inspire me as a storyteller!

What about you? What makes your passion come alive? What ideas and attitudes and examples do you strive for?

With love,

Rosalie <3

P.S. – there is no post script to this post…. or is there? All our minds = blown.