Thursday 6 August 2015

Inspiration for I Wish for You by Camilla Isley

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The main Idea behind my book was to write a whimsical story filled with possibilities, romance, and fun to read. I wanted to create a romantic world where wishes do come true.

I Wish for You is a Romagic Comedy with a lot of humor that I hope will make my readers dream and laugh on the journey to Happily Ever After.

As a writer, my greatest inspiration comes from within myself. While telling a story it is impossible for me not to bring to the page a part of my being, my strengths and weaknesses, hopes and fears, dreams and expectations. Then of course my creativity thrives and pulls from everything that surrounds me; being it the stories of people I know very well, like my friends and family, or those of people that I’ve never met.

For example, the story of how Ally and James met—plus/minus some details—is actually a true one, and I came across it completely unexpectedly. I was at a beauty salon chatting with the esthetician to distract myself during a painful waxing appointment. I was telling her how I had met my husband, fiancé at the time, and she told me that the previous day she had heard the most incredible story about how one of her other clients had met her husband. I liked it so much that I had to include it in my book.

I also draw inspiration from reading. I’m a big fan of historical fiction and fairy tales amongst many other genres. So even if my novel is definitely Contemporary, I wanted to include a minor sub-plot happening in the past. In my wicked mind I tried to come up with a way to mix the two to create something original. I did a bit of research as I needed the perfect character for my story, and that’s when my stranger with a dark past was chosen. Yes, he’s actually a real person. I will not say much else because I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but I took a wide creative license on another true story, admittedly a bit more ancient, and molded it into my novel while mixing it not only with fairy tales (think Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp) but also with one of the most famous Legends in history.

Another great surprise came from experimenting with developmental editing. I submitted my final draft to beta-readers and this led to many minor adjustments, but also to the re-writing of an entire chapter. Initially I wasn’t happy about it; of course, who wants to re-write something they’ve already deemed as perfect? But having seen the final result I have to admit that I was wrong. I’m glad I was able to listen to what others had to say about my work. The same goes for my wonderful editor, she had me chop bits and parts here and there and restructure some others and it made the final manuscript so much better.

In writing I Wish for You I’ve tried to create a book that I would enjoy reading myself, and I hope that others will have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

About the author:

Camilla was born in 1984. She’s an engineer that has always had a vivid imagination and a more creative approach to life. After working in a corporate job for some years, she left everything to follow her husband around the world in a new adventure. Upon finding herself with loads of free time for the first time in a long while, she decided to begin pouring some of her fantasies into words…

Twitter: @camillaisley
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/camillaisley

About I Wish For You

If all your wishes could suddenly come true, what would you do?
A year ago when the love of her life dumped her for no apparent reason, Ally thought she had hit rock bottom. But now that she has seen him with another woman, and one she knows only too well, her life seems to have reached a whole new level of low.
Yet, when she stumbles across an ancient object infused with magical powers and a stranger with a dark past appears out of nowhere promising to grant all her wishes, she finds herself hoping again.
Suddenly Ally’s life is turned upside down; she has a mystery to solve, a rival to beat, a millenarian curse to break, and well, she wants to have some fun playing with her new “gifts”…
But can she wish her way to happily ever after?



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