Hello gentle reader,
this week again I’m taking part in the Tursday’s Children meme hosted by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet and Kristina Perez. It is “a weekly blog hop where writers come together to talk about whatever inspires them.”
In these posts, I share a little bit more about what I’ve been working on, a YA Historical Fantasy nicknamed Secret WIP. Three weeks ago the first part of this “Project Reveal” was all about Setting. Two weeks ago I talked about films that inspired me to write this story. And last week I introduced you to my Main Character.
Today’s theme is : TITLE, PLOT and HOW I GOT THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY.
So withour further ado…
My Secret WIP’s title is LILY IN THE SHADOWS.
Here is the pitch I have come up with for it so far:
When all the flowers die in Victorian London, a streetwise flower girl with a love for books and a gift for getting into trouble investigates before the city descends into chaos and she loses everything.
I got the inspiration for this story from a song by Delain (a Dutch symphonic metal band I’m fond of) entitled Mother Machine.
Here are some of the lyrics:
Little girl in a concrete world
artificial hurt
in your eyes
You won’t see any living trees
any flower fields in my time
Round and round and round
the wheels come down
Dreaming of the steam
the pounding sounds
Round and round and round
the wheels come down
Won’t you electrify my soul
intensify it all
(…)
I’ll fold you paper flowers little girl
for you’ll never see a real one
So are you ever inspired by a song? Feel free to leave me a comment below, and to visit the other Thursday’s Children posts here.
EM Castellan 
Eeeeep!! This sounds so exciting! And with knowing the location and time, I can already picture it ❤ Can't wait for you to share it with us.
Can’t wait to share it with you either!
Whenever I hear of London flower-sellers I always think of that “Lavender’s Blue Dilly Dilly” song, sweet and mournful. Very cool premise for a story! I’m assuming she must figure out the cause before London descends into chaos? And before she loses everything (which would be what? family, home, love interest?) Yes, I’m asking for more details 🙂
I know my pitch is a bit vague, but I don’t want to divulge everything too soon 😉
OMG, I’m SO ready for this story. Love the song, love your title, love to be a beta, lol!
Thanks 🙂 It’s very encouraging!
What Kate said!
Awesome 🙂
The title is nice….but explain to me how being withut flowers is a crisis…I’m confused about this.
Had to go listen to Mother Machine after this post–LOVE the way it opens… very steampunk there, suggesting the stalking of a steam-powered villain along the narrow and mist-shrouded alleys of London at night.
Very cool…
Yeah! I’m glad you liked it. I would have included a song track but I was afraid of copyright infringement…
I found the song on Youtube. Maybe you could put a link to the video there? It did evoke a lot of powerful feelings, especial when coupled with a lot of Steampunk imagery with a world of soot and gears and very little light, metal on stone… and forced cheer through dress and rigid couture.
I hereby offer my services as a CP. Sounds awesome! 😀
Music’s a huge part of my writing process. I use it for characters and specific scenes.
Thank you!!!!
Ahhhhhh! This sounds so great and so like something I’d pick up off the shelf to read! 🙂
Good to hear 🙂 And thanks!
Sounds fantastic and I can really see how the song could have inspired it.
I’m actually a writer and flower girl, though not of the street variety.
Thanks for your support! And I’m jealous about you being a flower girl…
I had to go listen to the song too. Love it! It does sound very steampunk. That’s a very cool inspiration for your story. I really want to read this!
Aw thank you 🙂
Love your pitch/logline. Very tight and gives me a good sense of the story and MC, all in one jam-packed sentence, lol. It’s been awesome reading each reveal!
Thanks for sharing!
You’re so on to a winner here. I love the lyrics and I can totally see why a world without flowers is a world in crisis. And that’s just on the aesthetic front – not to mention the consequences for the food supply! A great series of posts, and you should be encouraged by all the very positive feedback!
Great pitch! sound like a good one. I’m always inspired by music–that’s my other job. 🙂 welcome to the hop!
This sounds fabulous. Totally up my alley. As an academic I’ve done a lot of research on Victorian London and I love everything about this era. Let me know if you need a beta!