Apostle Islands

~ rachellepaigecampbell ~ Leave a comment

Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, is the setting for my debut novel, Anchored in the Bay.

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In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful and peaceful place in the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to vacation there for some wonderful summers during my teens and early twenties. I love the whip of the wind in my hair as the ferry crosses the bay from Bayfield to LaPointe, the street signs carved into wooden plaques nailed to trees, the fresh, pine-scented air, the silence and utter blackness of night, and the stunning forests butting up against rocky and sandy shores.

When planning my wedding, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect setting than Bayfield. Everything, location, vendors, hotels, was perfect and couldn’t have been better. It is truly a magnificent part of the the country and I hope to capture a bit of it’s magic in my novels.

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Inspiration

~ rachellepaigecampbell ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been a life-long daydreamer. Since childhood, I’ve preferred to get lost in my own imagination over any other entertainment. I like to take a thought, a passing comment, a throw-away idea and turn it into something more, something fully developed.

Increasingly, my own family inspires me. My husband often sticks his foot in his mouth around me to hilarious results. I have taken a lot of his comments and worked them into my dialogue verbatim.

My sons inspire me, but not in the same direct way. Having my sons and raising them has reaffirmed to me that having dreams and working hard for them every day isn’t just important, it’s fundamental. I want to be a good role model for them; someone who loves her family unconditionally but also puts in effort and sweat and tears to make things happen. I want to teach them that while it’s nice to have the validation and support of people around you; you have to believe in yourself first and foremost.

#amwriting

~ rachellepaigecampbell ~ 1 Comment

Nearly six years ago, on a similarly cold, snowy day, a story came to me as I took the train to work. I started writing snippets of dialogue, moments in the story, completely out of context. By the time I finally sat down to make sense of all the scraps of paper, I ended up with a book I felt just barely brave enough to submit to a few contests.  This entire process took well over a year.

I received tons of constructive criticism and kept working. I trained myself to write a book from start to finish, not picking out interesting pieces here and there, and finished a re-write and a sequel. Then I discovered Camp Nanowrimo and trained myself to type a story, instead of writing it long-hand first, and considerably sped up my production time to just over a month per first draft.

I’m now on the verge of releasing the first book in my series; something I couldn’t have even imagined doing when I started. I have so many stories to tell (at least four in the True North series) and so many dreams I want to accomplish (starting with leaping in self-publishing) in 2015. This simple hashtag reminds me to keep working, every day, no matter what.  I love that daily encouragement.