Sources of Inspiration

By Holly Bargo

I’ve long asserted that ideas are cheap and plentiful and have a folder full of partial manuscripts to prove it. Each of the files within that folder began as an idea that just wouldn’t leave my mind until I wrote it down. Each began with good intentions--and we know what paves the road to hell. However, somewhere along the way--sometimes not more than a few pages in--those ideas faltered. I couldn’t sustain them. 

I published Rowan in 2014. I was employed full-time in a soul-sucking job I loathed. After work, I did the wife-and-mother thing. Let’s just say that my life didn’t leave me a whole lot of time for idle amusement like writing. Rowan took me two years to write. I don’t remember where the story premise came from. I do recall sending it to a friend of a friend who was kind enough to serve as an informed beta reader and taking encouragement and direction from her feedback. It was probably my first genuine experience as an indie author. 

I remember as I wrote Rowan that other characters inserted themselves into the story. Those characters, Cassia and Willow, demanded I write their stories. And so a trilogy, the Tree of Lifeseries, was born. 

Rowan isn’t perfect by any means, either as a manuscript or as a character. Among all the heroines appearing in my books (over 20 titles published since 2014), she’s the one most like me in personality. Perhaps for that reason, her story remains my favorite. 

Ideas for other books spring from diverse sources: some begin with a question of “What if?” Others arise from idle daydreaming. The Falcon of Imenotash was sparked by a movie: I disliked the movie’s ending and my imagination immediately went to work on a new story that touched upon some of the themes in the movie. I challenge you to identify the movie that generated that spark. Russian Gold, Russian Dawn, and Russian Pride all came into being because some enthusiastic fans asked for stories featuring the protagonists who appeared as secondary characters in Russian Lullaby. 
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Inspiration comes from many sources. Ideas are cheap and plentiful, we pluck them from the air. Whether we can carry an idea to its natural fruition is another matter entirely.

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Rowan

Branch 1 of the Tree of Life

by Holly Bargo

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Nearly a century ago, Rowan Nemed died by lightning strike. The divine bolt ignited something magic and she was transformed into something rare, powerful, and fey: sidhe.

Sidhe survival depends much upon one’s ability to remain hidden from other supernatural creatures and magic users who would exploit them. Rowan has lived for several years in the pressure cooker of Hollywood as a set designer, carefully staying away from the camera. However, a spontaneous act of recognition for her work brings Rowan to the notice of Los Angeles’ supernatural community and her freedom is threatened.

Lion shifter Adrian and vampire Simon are best friends and business partners. When they discover Rowan, each wants her for his own. Rowan does her best to dissuade them, for a supernatural matebond means the end of her freedom.

Then demons begin hunting sidhe and Rowan is a prime target. She agrees to exchange her freedom for survival. But which male will Rowan accept? And can she survive when one of them dies in a battle to keep her?

This is the first of three books in The Tree of Life trilogy. The book can be read as a stand-alone novel.

Mature content not suitable for readers under 18. Content has been proofread, edited, and updated.

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Holly Bargo never outgrew a love of fairy tales, legends, and myths. Or horses. However, one foot must remain firmly planted in the real world where Holly makes her living as a freelance writer and editor. She and her husband have two grown children and live on a southwest Ohio hobby farm with a menagerie indoor and outdoor animals.

Holly enjoys hearing from readers and other authors and may be contacted via the Hen House Publishing website: www.henhousepublishing.com.

When she's not working on other people's documents or reading, Holly finds time to transfer the voices in her head to paper ... er ... computer. If she doesn't, there's a definite possibility her mind will explode.

And for those who might wonder from where the pseudonym of Holly Bargo came, it's quite simple really. Horses. Namely an elegant and temperamental Appaloosa mare who has long since crossed the Rainbow Bridge and is fondly remembered for guarding toddler children and crushing a brand-new pager.

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