Writers are often asked where they get their inspiration for stories from. So here’s my attempt at explaining the inspiration behind The Charm.

I get inspiration and ideas for stories from many places—TV, books, snippets of conversation overheard on a train. I’m often drawn to the unusual or unexplained concepts, or at least things that are unexplained to me! The inspiration behind writing my YA novella The Charm came from watching celebrity mind magicians on TV.

TV shows have highlighted how amazing the power of the mind can be. In Derren Brown’s Fear and Faith special he set up a fake pharmaceutical company. The company claimed to have developed a drug called Rumyodin that could eradicate fear. And guess what? People taking the drug overcame their fears. But of course the drug was a placebo and at the end Derren revealed ‘rumyodin’ was an anagram for ‘your mind’. The participants had believed so strongly in the drug that it actually worked. Without realising it they had used the power of their own minds to overcome their fears.

Then there is Dynamo who amongst many other amazing things, can do things like making it impossible for people to pull their own hands apart, or making himself unliftable, even to heavy weight boxer, David Haye. Had Dynamo made himself unliftable, or had he made David think he was unliftable? Whichever way it showed how remarkable the mind can be if you know how to harness it.

So the mind is a very clever thing and some people seem to have mastered the art of seemingly controlling other peoples.  Hypnotherapy has helped many people reduce their anxiety, overcome their fears, and break their bad habits. This is great but what if someone decided to use mind control for evil?  What if someone used it for their own advantage? What if someone had a beef against the world and wanted revenge? What if those in power used it to control the people?

If you had an extraordinary power what would you do?

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This blog was first seen on Kerry Hearts YA blogspot.

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Buy The Charm on Amazon here: http://hyperurl.co/2ad8h0

Don’t have a Kindle? If you have a smart phone or tablet you can still enjoy The Charm. The Kindle app is free in the apple and android stores.