Odd inspiration . . .

Sometimes the oddest things inspire, arriving in one’s life at just the right time.  I’m working on the first draft of a fantasy fiction at the moment, entitled The Shifu Cloth.  Part of it takes place in a Far Eastern inspired country called The Han.  My female protagonist, Isabella, meets a character at the time of the Lantern Festival which heralds Spring.  And I wondered what this character should look like . . . clothes, mannerisms etc. I had done much research on China and Japan but the research pressed no buttons.  And then my dearest embroidery  friend gave me a notebook (see left) and suddenly my dilemma was solved.  This was my character . . . except in the story, I have given him glasses.  He needed to appear myopic and studious, as well as inscrutable and I’ve always liked the way occasionally light shines on rimless spectacles, effectively blocking out eye expression.

The notebook comes from the stunning French haberdashers, Sajouwww.sajou.fr, and my friend Jane gave me some extraordinary thread winders as well.  Even these will no doubt provide some bizarre inspiration at some point in some novel.  There are so many beautiful things in the Sajou catalogue and whether one’s an embroiderer or not, it makes no difference.  One can just spend a wonderful hour being lulled by French quality and elegance.

Meanwhile my odd little Han man is about to tell Isabella that he too wants to leave the secretive Han Province and will show her a way to escape over the bridge that isn’t.  And definitely not on a unicycle.

Oh . . . note to self: perhaps not a good idea to call onself Upsy Daisy, even though one does love In the Night Garden.  The Stumpwork Robe and The Last Stitch by Australian author Upsy Daisy lacks something in the translation.

Note to Bloggers:  see wonderful reviews on Amazon.com for The Stumpwork Robe and The Last Stitch by Prue Batten. (not Upsy Daisy)