My series (The Élan Series), like most books, didn’t stem from just one event. It was a number of events that happened over a course of time which prompted me to write about Tara and Derek. Their character and habits came from watching many people over that time and taking bits and pieces of each of them to create my characters, and their flaws as well as gifts.
Another such story of art imitating life was the time I used the power of touch to calm an enraged student. A young lady in my class back in 2009 had a reputation for popping off at anybody who crossed her. The incident occurred near the end of the day. A young man said something that offended my female student and an argument between the two ensued. Before it could erupt into a full blown throw down, I sent the girl outside to cool off. I went outside to speak to her, to get her version of what happened, and while I was talking to her I placed my hand on her forearm to let her know she had my attention. As she continued to vent (and cry), I kept my hand on her arm. I watched as this young woman physically calm down. Her breathing slowed, her tears dried, her pitch lowered, and she was able to control herself.
That incident got me thinking, Wouldn’t it be cool if a person could change someone else’s emotions just by touching them? Nothing came of that thought until I connected it to my previous ponderings of the student I’d lost in Kentucky. I don’t remember how I made that connection. I’m sure if I try (which I probably will), I could figure out how I combined the two, but it really doesn’t matter. I just attribute it to the convoluted wanderings of an author’s mind.
You probably think that’s all there is to how I came up with the idea for my series. Well, it’s not. A couple of other incidents occurred around that same time period that contributed the basis for Echo, Blur, and Bound. I’ll share them with you in a future blog post. Until then, hug somebody and share with them the warmth of a human touch.