The journal I used to record Nicole’s progress through rehabilitation for her brain injury.
I love seeing movies inspired or based on true events. The first two books I wrote were inspired by true events, and when people ask about them, I feel a need to go through the explanation that inspired by and based on are not the same. One can be inspired by a song to write a novel, but that novel wouldn’t be based on true events unless the story was about listening to the song—and who’d want to read about that?
Illusions, which is scheduled to release in April, was inspired by a near-fatal car accident my daughter was in only days after her eighteenth birthday. It was living through that experience, as her mother, that started the what if? questions years later. That’s how a story is born—at least this story.
What if an accident is the result of a mother/daughter argument? Not a difficult concept to grasp, as my own daughter and I were going through a rough patch at that time. No matter what I said, it was cause for argument. A teacher-friend of mine told me it was normal—God’s way of preparing the heart so that when your almost-adult-child goes off to college, you’re ready to let them. In some cases, pushing them out the door.
What if that argument was caused by something the mother did in her past—a deep, dark secret that even she cannot face? And what if that mother is held to a higher standard than most others? Say the wife of a pastor? And what if that pastor already has a black mark against him because of an act their other child (a boy) previously committed? Would the congregation turn against him? We all know people in church who seek opportunity to throw a wrench into things—that live with a big ol’ log in their eye, blinding them from the concept of grace.
To add to the tension (because, what’s the point of a story without it?), what if the accident caused traumatic brain injury and the daughter remembers nothing? It may not be on par with Sophie’s Choice, but now a mother is torn between wanting her daughter to be whole again and hoping the deep, dark secret remains lost somewhere in the recesses of her mind.
Admittedly, the two children of Corey and Paul Schaffer (the main characters) are based loosely on my own children, Nicole and Christopher. So much easier to write what I can easily envision in my mind. And many of the challenges Taylor (the accident victim) faces were actually those my own daughter experienced. If you want to read the true story, you can find it in the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injury.
But that’s where truth and fiction part ways. And it’s important that they do so, because as a wise mentor once told me, it’s nearly impossible to fictionalize truth. As a writer, we want to cling to what really happened rather than allow creative license to make the story better, so we get bogged down in the mundane details. And although I have personally experienced the adage that truth is stranger than fiction, most people read to be taken out of the day-to-day-ness of life.
So, Illusions started with inspiration, but God took it to whole new level. It’s one of the ways He uses the challenges I’ve faced in life to connect with readers and hopefully give them His inspiration and encouragement. I love the verse in Genesis 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. That is the heart of why I write. In this world, there will be evil, and the enemy will take every opportunity to derail those who love God. But if we allow it, God will use it for good. You just have to look for it.
