A Look Inside the Book
THE OPENER…
In Her Words A Silver Lining, the story’s central character Ian is left with one family heirloom - the hawk letter-opener. It’s a beautiful opener with a midnight-black blade and a pommel fashioned into the shape of a hawk, complete with emeralds inlaid for eyes. But the thing is…Ian doesn’t realize it’s a letter-opener. He just assumes it’s a fancy dagger. This is a small instance of inspiration I drew from my own experience regarding letter-openers.
A golden letter-opener currently has its own place on my bookshelf. It lays on top of a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Like Ian’s opener, mine has a bird fashioned into one end. A great owl, with wide eyes (If only mine had the emeralds!).
My letter-opener was something my parents had found for me at a flea market. At the time, I was obsessed with anything owl-related. But I had never seen a letter-opener before, nor did I realize they were a thing. So, I simply assumed it was just an odd little knife that needed some sharpening. Eventually (actually several years later…Oops…), I realized what it truly was meant for.
While writing Her Words A Silver Lining, I had the opportunity to poke a little fun at myself by way of Ian’s story. I’m sure everyone has had their own experiences with mistaking one thing for another. It’s all about interpretation.
THE LAKE…
A snowy mountain village. A city along the coast. A lake hidden inside a deep forest…
I’ve always enjoyed stories that force the characters to travel around different realms and foreign lands. In Her Words A Silver Lining, Ian has the privilege to comfortably tour the Empire. Even though he may be disgruntled about the arrangement, I throughly enjoyed creating the Empire’s array of cities and landscapes. One particular checkpoint on the map is a large lake, nestled inside a forest outside of Ian’s hometown.
I grew up in a rural, Midwest small town, about twenty minutes drive from a state park. Every summer, my dad would drive us to the park and we would throw dummies out into the lake for our dog to dive for. And when the green leaves turned to gold, we would let sunbeams light our way along the hiking paths. Going to the lake always guaranteed a good day.
As childhood turned into the teen and young adult years, I had gotten away from lake visits. What was once only a twenty minute drive, was now an hour out of the way…But recently, I have decidedly made the time to go back - to set aside days to relax and enjoy just being out of the house.
When Ian turns up at his lake, he finds it not only a peaceful respite, but a place where his relationship with his brother seems to finally turn over a new corner.
Lake days will always be treasured days to both Ian and I.
