About Defy

Learn All About My First Book Defy

This is no doubt going to be a multiple-part post, so bear with me! I’m going to try to explain my thinking behind the book and what exactly I wanted to convey with my writing. Let’s get to it!

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Why the name Defy?

So let’s start with an easy question – why name the book Defy? Well, the story behind it is kind of strange…

The simple explanation is that it came from a dream. Yes, really. A dream.

It’s said that dreams are influenced by the things we experience throughout the day. So, what could’ve possibly influenced me to dream about a spy in World War 2? Two things: World War 2 documentaries and Star Trek.

Now, World War 2 documentaries make sense. They follow the same topic as the book and are very educational. However, Star Trek might seem like a stretch – but hear me out! The specific Star Trek episode that I’m thinking about is from Star Trek: Voyager, Season 4 episodes 18 & 19, “The Killing Game”. For those of you unfamiliar with Star Trek: Voyager and this specific episode, I’m going to summarize the best that I can. In this episode, the crew of the USS Voyager, a starship in Starfleet, is taken hostage by an alien race called the Hirogen. The Hirogen proceed to wipe the memories of the crew and place them in a holodeck (glorified virtual reality), playing out different time periods in history. The event the Hirogen choose focuses on the occupation of Paris during World War 2 and they make the crew all a part of a resistance sect (are you starting to see the connection now?).

Now, when these two influences combined in my dreams, the result was the basis of my book. I can still recall some of that dream, though parts of it are now a little hazy, but that just happens with time. What I do remember is this: I was a woman in a newspaper business and I was working with a resistance group (geez, that sentence sounds like a bad summary of my book).

When I woke up, I immediately wanted to write it down, but also, for some reason, even though I didn’t have an entire story yet, I wanted to come up with a cool name. So, I sat there thinking long and hard, trying to think of a cool name for my new story about a spy. It’s gotta be something catchy, I remember thinking, something that will grab people’s attention when they see the title… That’s when it hit me – Defy.

Moments after settling on the name, I immediately drew my very first cover (though it’s not as good as my current cover). From there, the story of Defy took shape and it became what it is now.

I guess the moral of the story is that some of the best ideas can come to you when you don’t expect them!

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I was going to write some more, but after looking back at what I put down already, I think I’ll end it here for today.

Check back soon for some more cool tidbits!

Sincerely,

L.A. Grabins

P.S.: Enjoy some early drafts of my cover – I’ve definitely improved in my skills since the first few!