Dreams are a very common source of inspiration for many authors. I know that was where Inception, The Twilight Saga, and Sword Bird had been inspired by. A lot of people also base stories off of their own life experiences.
My novel, however, was not based off either of those. A lot of my inspirations came from Harry Potter. For instance, there is an invisibility poncho similar to Harry’s cloak, there are wizards born without magical skills or abilities called maglacks, and there is a potion that can turn one into another being called Impersonaide Potion.
Regardless of the elements in my novel, my protagonist, Alyssa McCarthy, was not brand new when I first wrote this book. In fact, there is a long history behind my idea of a blonde character named Alyssa.
When I was seven, I read a book called Morris Goes to School. That had inspired me to create a polar bear named Spike and write a book about him going to school in a similar plot line to the book I had read. Eventually, I’d made Spike younger and added a girl in his class named Alyssa. Sadly, I abandoned the idea of Spike when I was about nine. But then I made up an imaginary series about a girl named Alyssa who lived in a house and had animal friends. I valued it until fifth grade. It all went away.
However, at the beginning of eleventh grade, while I was in the shower, the idea of Alyssa randomly struck me. I wanted to revive my childhood imagination about her and the animals. It was originally going to be a series of short stories, like episodes on a TV show, but I ended up making it into a novel. That was how I got the idea for my previous novel, Alyssa’s African Adventures.
Unfortunately, that book received so many bad reactions, and once I published it, so many people disliked and told me that only those I knew would’ve bought it. Because I wasn’t eighteen yet at the time, I had to wait before I could cancel the publishing contract. I tried to rewrite it a bunch of times until I realized that those elements weren’t worth showing to people and that it would be better to write something brand new.
Despite that, I felt too uncomfortable changing the new main character’s name or physical appearance. However, I guarantee that she is not the same character as in the other one. She is totally different. Regardless of that, I had learned a lesson. Never get your inspirations from sources that don’t make any sense. Think ideas through and see if they are worth writing and publishing. If not, try and twist them so that they do make sense.
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Sunayna Prasad has been writing stories for over thirteen years, starting at the age of six. Now nineteen, she will start her junior year of college this fall, and will study accessory design as well as continue to write for children. Aside from that, Sunayna also likes to cook, watch movies, and draw. She lives on Long Island, New York, with her family.
Her latest book is the middle grade fantasy, Alyssa McCarthy’s Magical Missions: From Frights to Flaws.
Visit her website at www.SunaynaPrasadBooks.com.
The Story Behind the Book 