I was talking to my musician brother recently, about creative ideas and where they come from. I commented that sometimes, I didn’t realise where inspiration came from until long after the fact, when something or someone would jog my memory and I would make the connection. He said the same thing happened to him with his music, ideas coming from things he had seen or done without him realising straight away.
On my recent holiday I visited Hearst Castle, on the California Central Coast. I was last there about thirty years ago with family, and the visit we made to the castle is one of the standout memories of that trip. So to say I was looking forward to seeing it again is something of an understatement.
For those of you unfamiliar with Hearst Castle, it was built in the early twentieth century by a newspaper magnate named William Randolph Hearst. Originally intended as a holiday bungalow, the project, under the joint guidance of Hearst and his architect, Julia Morgan, grew into a main building, three guesthouses, a huge outdoor swimming pool featuring a real Roman temple, an indoor pool, extensive landscaped gardens and a zoo. Hearst was a great traveller, and during his frequent trips to Europe would buy antiquities and, on occasion, entire rooms from ancient buildings that were being demolished, sending them back to Morgan with instructions to ‘fit them in somewhere.’ Hearst lived at the castle with his mistress, the actress Marion Davies, and it became the place to be seen for Hollywood elite during the twenties, thirties and forties. So Hearst Castle is a fascinating and historically significant place to visit, not just for the architecture but also for the stories it holds.
I took quite a few photos while there and, when I posted some on Facebook, my cousin commented, ‘This is a bit like how Ambeth looks in my head.’
I don’t want to take away any of the mystery of my books, as Ambeth is inspired by many different places. However, the towered Palace surrounded by gardens does bear a slight resemblance to Hearst’s castle, set high on its hill overlooking the California coast. It wasn’t something I did on purpose – in fact, I was thinking more of Notre Dame when I was trying to describe the Palace – so it was an interesting realisation that a trip I took at fifteen was still resonating somewhere in my subconscious, helping to create a whole new world.
We are all the sum of our experiences, and that which we create reflects much of what we have done. However, you don’t need to travel to have a rich internal landscape – life experiences can happen in your own living room. It has been commented on many times that the Bronte sisters, despite their relatively sheltered existence, were able to write books of passion and emotion such as Wuthering Heights. I believe that true inspiration comes from somewhere beyond the confines of our existence, a process that can’t really be explained other than to say ‘it is.’
Still, it’s interesting to see connections like this. None of us create in a vacuum, after all.
Helen Glynn Jones 
I’m from ca and i went to Hearst 10 years ago. Nothing like a California sky. Did you see the zebras and gazelles on the bus to the top? I always imagination Ambeth kind of like when Cameron Diaz and Jude Law run around this hedge in The Holiday.
I did see the zebras and gazelles – it’s such a cool place and the views are extraordinary, aren’t they? I love how you see Ambeth – I have seen the Holiday and of course I live in the UK so the formal gardens here, especially at the big country houses, were also an inspiration 🙂
Yes! I always think of Deryck escorting her through the hedges. Johnathan Bennett and the girl from the Hurt Locker. I assign celebrities to all of the book characters I read hahaha!
Oh, that’s excellent! Do you mean the guy from Mean girls? That’s so interesting, I love to hear how readers see the characters, because they are so clear in my head. I have ‘cast’ some of the characters in my own mind, though not Deryck, so that’s very cool to know how you see him 🙂
Yes mean girls! OMG he’s so dreamy LOL. Who do you see Alma as or is she just her bad self? 😉
Sometimes I think she’s a bit like Saoirse Ronan, but at other times I’m not sure. I think she is herself. If it ever becomes a movie I don’t know who it would be 😀
I totally see it!
It looks gorgeous Helen! 🙂
Thanks Melissa – it really was! I will share more photos from it soon 🙂
Please do! I can’t wait to see them! X
Tht’s so true, Helen. I guess most of us create from well out of our ‘experience zone’ judging by all the fantasy and mythological and historical stories which are out there, and yet it is still authentic and believable, so how on earth do authors make that happen? It’s intriguing!
I think it is in part because we do pull details out of our real lives to create these fantastical places and people – on some subconscious level these details resonate, making the fantastic believable for the reader. Well, that’s my theory, anyway 🙂 And thank you for re-tweeting me, you are so good for doing that – I really appreciate it xx
Happy to, Helen. I always enjoy your posts, and think anyone I know will too.
Thanks Ali – I always enjoy all your posts too and need to make more of an effort to share them 🙂 xx
Don’t worry about that! Glad you enjoy them, though. 😊
I really do 🙂 xx
just wow, what a view / place. I love that your cousin said that too. 🙂
Thanks Sacha – it is a rather amazing place 🙂 I loved that she said that too, we tend to do that quite often which is cool.
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