Christina Courtenay Trade Winds Inspiration & Background
"Trade Winds" is a historical romance set in Sweden and China. It is loosely based on the Swedish East India Company's first journey to the Far East in 1732, but when I first started writing it, I had no idea this was going to be the case. | ![]() |
The second thing that inspired me was a music video - "Call Me When You're Sober" by the American band Evanescence. The video for this song is based on the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood, but the wolf in this instance is a handsome young man who looks wicked and mischievous. He happened to be dressed in old-fashioned clothing, which fits in with my historical writing, and this fired my imagination. The beautiful singer of the band, Amy Lee, was of course Little Red Riding Hood and although she appears timid and naive at the beginning of the video, she starts to assert herself and ultimately triumphs over the wolf/young man because he is enthralled by her. I decided my heroine had to be just as feisty. (If you want to watch the video of "Call Me When You're Sober" you can find it on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=izYIO9VtjUs) |