It is my pleasure to once again host Lori Benton here on Writing to Inspire. Her stories have made quite an impression upon my heart, and it is my hope that you'll give them a chance and see for yourself what all the hype is about. I'm pretty sure you'll be glad you did.
*This article first appeared on Mary Vee's website. Re-posted here with permission from Lori Benton.
When Dreams
Are Put On Hold
by Lori Benton
My debut
novel, Burning Sky, released in 2013. More than once during an interview that
year I was asked, "Did your own battle and survivorship with cancer
influence your novel?" My answer is very much so! In fact, what I learned
during the year I went through cancer treatment offered me much by way of
inspiration when it came to writing Burning Sky and every novel I’ve written
since.
A theme I
explore frequently in my novels centers around identity. In Burning Sky, more
specifically, it was the challenge of redefining oneself after a significant
loss. Many of the story’s characters are on that difficult journey but one of
them, Neil MacGregor—the Scottish botanist aided by the heroine, Willa
Obenchain—has a journey that mirrors my own, though I didn’t initially intend
for that to happen.
