Ask the Author: Elizabeth Devlin
Answered Questions (2)
Elizabeth Devlin
• First and foremost, the setting. I know I’m not alone in being inspired by the ocean. I look out at the water and feel like a knot inside of me relaxes and lets go. In “Home Waters”, the setting inspires the main characters and affects them in concrete ways.
• The other thing that inspired me was the answer I came up with when I asked myself, what if? In this case, what if a scientist discovered a serious threat to the waters on which he lived and then, while trying to deal with that, a family crisis explodes in his lap? We all have families and work we care about; how do we cope when they both reach crisis point at the same time?
• The other thing that inspired me was the answer I came up with when I asked myself, what if? In this case, what if a scientist discovered a serious threat to the waters on which he lived and then, while trying to deal with that, a family crisis explodes in his lap? We all have families and work we care about; how do we cope when they both reach crisis point at the same time?
Elizabeth Devlin
Inspiration is the easy part. I think all authors are readers first. We love books and get inspired to try to do the same. Actually doing it; not quite so easy.
• Years ago I read a series of novels by Nora Roberts set on Chesapeake Bay and I was completely enthralled.
• My story is different in virtually every specific, but it does have something in common with those Chesapeake Bay books (in addition to the type of setting). In both:
• The characters care deeply about family, but also have serious careers they work hard at and that matter to them. They struggle to balance the two and it isn’t easy. That’s pretty much the task I give my characters in Home Waters: how do you balance work and family when both need you desperately? I have to confess, my characters surprised me by figuring out smarter solutions that I, as the author, started out with.
• Years ago I read a series of novels by Nora Roberts set on Chesapeake Bay and I was completely enthralled.
• My story is different in virtually every specific, but it does have something in common with those Chesapeake Bay books (in addition to the type of setting). In both:
• The characters care deeply about family, but also have serious careers they work hard at and that matter to them. They struggle to balance the two and it isn’t easy. That’s pretty much the task I give my characters in Home Waters: how do you balance work and family when both need you desperately? I have to confess, my characters surprised me by figuring out smarter solutions that I, as the author, started out with.
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