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Goodreads asked Tracey-anne McCartney:

How do you get inspired to write?

Tracey-anne McCartney Initially, the mental imagery inspired me in such a magical way that I felt compelled to write, and once I started to place pen to paper, the story grew into a much greater tale. Maybe, every creative whimsy I've ever envisaged and not acted on has waited until now to be brought to life. My mind raced as folklore became entwined with love, fate entwined with choice, science entwined with spiritual teachings - all guiding me to write a romance that revolves around a karmic cycle.

What keeps us going when the world can feel so harsh?
Where do we draw our strength from in times of need?
These are the questions that I found myself asking characters, and most knew the answer - it comes from within. Somewhere, deep inside, a light refuses to fade. This light (our inner strength), may become less bright for a time, but in its fading it is re-energising, and will once again, awaken from sleep.
Once this inner light screams out its very last ray of hope, the sleeping energy awakes, re-igniting the dimming ray, reminiscent of an illuminating birth of a far away star, and from apparent nothingness, wondrous brightness can evolve.

In the book, I mention to 'keep your light bright', as we've all experienced at some point in our lives, a time when nothing makes sense and I really wanted to send out an important message – that you are so much more than what you initially see, and to remember...a fading light, secretly, masks eternity.
The Sindria elementals of 'A Carpet of Purple Flowers' teach 'To be able to shine more brightly, ones light must first fade’.

The overall story:

'The Butterfly Bridge' (a future book) lived in my mind for around two years prior to 'A Carpet of Purple Flowers'. It began with a visual of an open glade hidden by woodlands. In this special place, a small serene waterfall existed, far from prying eyes. Initially, this visualization was a place for me to rest my busy mind before drifting off to sleep. Then one night, a young woman appeared by the waterfall, her name, Enna. That was the starting place of all my writing.

I knew that 'The Butterfly Bridge' would take quite some time to write, as quite a complex world. So, I decided to start from a place that I knew well - SW London. The story grew 'bigger' than just the one book. So, I cut the story into three parts, creating a trilogy. It was then that I decided, 'The Butterfly Bridge' was to be the fourth book, a prehistory, stand-alone addition to a 'A Carpet of Purple Flowers'.

At one point, I'd mentally stored the outlines of four books and they all screamed to get out. It's amazing how many pens and pencils you can get through scribbling down all the info. ;o) During this process, I created a 'Book Bible', containing background ideas and details that will not be included in the book, but necessary to writing this story. At a later point, I would love to publish these, perhaps on the website.

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