Alaskan Homecoming, my grandpa and Peter & the Wolf!

Hi everyone! It's Teri Wilson, and this month I'm celebrating the release of the newest book in my Alaska series for Love Inspired. Here's a little bit about Alaskan Homecoming.

Ballet dancer Posy Sutton is only back in her hometown of Aurora, Alaska, until her injury heals. It's a decision that'd be easier to stick to if she didn't keep bumping into her charming ex-boyfriend, Liam Blake. After six years, she should be over him—but instead all she can see is the mistake she made when she left him. She's not sure she can handle choosing between Liam and ballet a second time…if Liam is even willing to risk his heart again. When her time in Alaska is up, will she and Liam be part of the sweetest dance of all?

Will they? I'll never tell! *wink*

This was a book that I've been wanting to write for a very long time. I love ballet. I take dance lessons, and I've always wanted to write a ballerina heroine. I think most writers will tell you that we always leave pieces of ourselves behind in every book we write. My passion for ballet and romance are just a few of the pieces of myself in Alaskan Homecoming. I've also included a very special musical arrangement.

My heroine, Posy, uses a classical recording of Peter & the Wolf to teach ballet lessons at the church youth group. I chose this piece of music because it's something that my grandfather played for me all the time when I was a little girl. My grandpa was a classical music buff. He loved to listen to John Phillips Sousa marches and Pavarotti librettos. He would turn the music up so loud that the walls in his little apartment would shake. I spent a lot of time with my grandpa, and I'm so proud to say that a love for classical music is one of his passions that he passed along to me. And it all started with Prokofiev's Peter & the Wolf, narrated by Boris Karloff. It was a story set to music. The most magnificent thing I'd ever heard. 

My grandpa played it every time he babysat for me. I remember sitting at his kitchen table, eating raisin toast with butter and listening to the lilting tune of Peter early on Saturday mornings. It's how I learned what different instruments sounded like. It's how I learned to love music. It's how I learned who my grandpa was. I loved him very much, and that's why my heroine dances to Peter & the Wolf in Alaskan Homecoming.  

Click here to listen to Peter & the Wolf in its entirety. It's about 26 minutes long, but I hope you give it a listen, even if just for a minute or two. Enjoy! 

And if you happen to pick up a copy of Alaskan Homecoming, happy reading! 

Love and blessings, 

Teri xo

Visit me at www.teriwilson.net!
Click here to purchase ALASKAN HOMECOMING

Finding Inspiration for Characters by Merrillee Whren

What can serve as inspiration for a character or a set of characters? I don't know about other writers, but my characters come to me in a variety of ways. One of my early attempts at writing a novel came as the result of my mother's sudden death. I wrote a story about a heroine who was coming back home to her mother's funeral. Writing that story helped me cope. The book went through numerous versions before it finally sold many years later. I was thrilled when that story was published because it is dear to my heart. Here is that book.



The hero and heroine in the story that became my first Love Inspired book formed in my mind because of a song by Dwight Yoakam called "Ain't That Lonely Yet." The song tells that story of a guy who got dumped by his girl, and now she's back and trying to patch things up. He doesn't want anything to do with it. The characters in my book, THE HEART'S HOMECOMING, were born as a result of that song.



Secondary characters often become the heroes or heroines in subsequent books. The heroine of LOVE WALKED IN, Beth Carlson, didn't even have a name in THE HEART'S HOMECOMING. She was only referred to as Max's mom. Max was a fourteen-year-old boy in the story. We see Max again as a troubled teen in LOVE WALKED IN. Ever since I wrote about Max, I've wanted to give him his own love story. But before I could do that, I had to tell Brittany Gorman's story. She and Max eventually become high school sweethearts, but if you read my upcoming January 2012 book, MONTANA MATCH, you will see that their relationship doesn't last.



I could go on and on about what makes characters spring to life in my mind, but I want to know what kind of characters grab your attention? Do you like to read about people who are larger than life or a character who is more like you? What kind of characters stay with you long after you have read a book?