Guest Author: J.E. Hopkins

Please help me welcome J.E. Hopkins.

Thanks so much for allowing me to post on your site.

The Inspiration of Song

Music has been such a great inspiration for my writing. Certain songs just trigger my imagination and help me develop characters and plotlines. In my Misfits of the Lore Series there were two such songs that inspired me to craft these novels – I’ll Be Seeing You and These Arms of Mine.

Lover’s Betrayal, the first book in my series, was inspired by the song I’ll Be Seeing You by Billie Holiday. I first heard this song when I watched The Notebook. Not only did I fall in love with the movie, but I immediately purchased the soundtrack. The song that surprisingly stood out the most was I’ll Be Seeing You. There are two wonderful versions of the song on the soundtrack, but Billie’s just struck a chord with me. I listened to it repeatedly. Each time those lyrics sung in her sultry, but despaired voice just mesmerized me. As I listened to those words, I imagined this sad tale of a couple who were forced to separate despite the immeasurable love between them.  I heard the pain in Billie’s voice and I could imagine the pain in my character Olivia’s voice as she said goodbye to her soul mate. The story just came to me in that moment. As I sat down to write, the words just poured out of me as Billie’s voice sang in the background giving me the motivation to tell Olivia and Lucian’s story of love, betrayal and forgiveness.

I had a similar experience while I was writing my latest book, We Shall Rise. One of my favorite songs of all time is These Arms of Mine, by Otis Redding. To me, this is the ultimate love song. It is the pinnacle of a journey wrought with highs and lows but in the end leads to a perfect, passionate and interminable love. That is Kaden and Reysa’s story. Their journey to happiness is filled with obstacles, but as they battle through them, they find the bliss that only true love can bring.

I am so grateful for these two wonderful songs and the inspiration they have given me. As I continue to write my third novel in the series, Julian’s story, I am finding inspiration in so many songs. At the moment, Adele is igniting my imagination as I delve through the complicated love triangle that Julian can’t escape.

Thanks again for all your support. I hope you enjoy my Misfits of the Lore and the music that inspired this series.

We Shall Rise
By J.E. Hopkins

Book Blurb:

War surrounds him, yet for vampire Kaden Gaspard, there is no greater battle than the one his mind has waged against his heart. He knows he should stay away from her. Reysa. The half-breed vampire warrior who had risked her life to prove his innocence for the seven murders for which he was accused, but had not committed. This stubbornly loyal woman who dedicated her life to her family of misfits – immortals shunned and abandoned by their clans for their impurity of blood and genetic mutations. This courageous and valiant African warrior who Kaden fears could never love the monster that he is destined to be.

As Kaden and Reysa struggle to accept the undeniable bond between them, they must come together to stop the emerging terror that threatens to destroy all immortals. The lesser immortals – witches, sages, shifters, demons, hybrids, charmers and foreseers – have declared war against the pureblood vampires and lycans who have used their purity of blood and greater strength to enslave the weaker races. No immortal is safe. This is a fight for freedom and a fight against genocide. There can be no true victor as death looms for them all.