The Author . . . Gem Sivad
My name is Gem Sivad. I’m a dedicated scribbler who spends five hours each day working on my love stories set in the
Old West. I enjoy the first moment when a plot tickles my imagination. I call it that what if moment.
Then there is the meet and greet hour when I develop personality profiles and decide if I really want to spend three months with the people who have emerged. Meeting the characters who will play their parts, is interesting.
Sometimes (more often than not), I begin with a clear idea of where my plot will lead. Then the characters come to life, jerk the reins from my hands, and we take an exciting ride together. Each word, gesture, and choice of dress becomes theirs. After I think I know my main characters, they tell me their motivations, speaking to me in their own particular choice of words.
The need to know is a bonus in being an author. I’ve always been intrigued by the ingenuity of human beings. It’s interesting the odd things I discover when I’m gathering information for my historicals.
But the best part of writing romance is creating a passionate relationship between unlikely souls. That’s when I become a matchmaker.
How do I do this for characters who lived in 1880′s Texas? I have a muse.
The Muse . . .Lozen
Lozen was the younger sister of the great Apache leader, Victorio.
She was not only a healer, midwife, and prophet, but also a skillful warrior.
Victorio is quoted as saying, “Lozen is my right hand.”
I can understand that, I often feel the same.
When it is late at night, and I am desperate for a sentence, a scene, or a sense of what was, I let Lozen guide me on my visit to
an earlier time and place.
In the guise of a Boston debutante, an Alabama school teacher, a gambler’s shill, a Shakespearean actress, an avenging widow,
a female bounty hunter, or a disgraced doctor, I go where Lozen’s spirit leads.
We write tender love stories and sizzling hot passion… Lozen would allow no less.
The Inspiration . . . Dream Catcher
As the legend goes, the dream catcher was used by the Woodland Indians and was hung in the lodge (near the bedroom window).
It’s use was to catch all dreams, good or bad.
The bad dreams would get caught up in the webbing and be held there till first morning light, then burned off.
Now, the good dreams were caught, and knowing their way to the opening in the center, would filter down into the feathers
and be held there, only to return another night to be dreamed.
In my two current western romance series, Lozen and I are gathering inspiration from the feathers of our dream catcher.
We’re in 1880′s Eclipse, Texas .
