Sarah’s Gift: Believing in the Magic

As a certified creativity coach and life purpose alchemist, I work with divinely-inspired artists and writers on their creative process, helping them sort through their many ideas so they can choose a project that’s fully aligned with their authentic vision.

A lot goes into the creative process, from idea to planning to implementation to completion. And while it can be an exciting journey, it can sometimes feel like a lot of hard work.

This is where inspiration comes into the mix. When we feel inspired, the creative process begins to flow almost magically – from beginning to end.

So how can we take a more inspired approach toward productivity and creative manifestation, yielding to magical results?

Today, I’ve asked my colleague Erica Tucci, author of the chapter book series Sarah’s Gift, to join me for a dialogue about inspiration – and how it factors into the creative process.

Her latest book, Believing in the Magic – written for 7-12 year-old readers, has just been released. The story features a young girl with psychic abilities, who uses them to harmlessly deal with different life situations.

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Tina: How did the idea for this story come about? What inspired “Sarah’s Gift: Believing in the Magic?”

Erica: Well, let me step back and talk a bit first about the Sarah’s Gift series as a whole. This year, I was confronted by my inner child who wished to express herself, so I let her do so through the series. Sarah is based on my own childhood (and adult) memories. (Our inner child is always with us, even into our adulthood.) When I decided to write the series, I also found Dr. Farmer’s Children’s Spirit Animal Cards, which comprised 24 oracle cards of animals and their spirit messages. The first book in the series Standing Up for Yourself has Bear as the spirit animal that guides Sarah. It was based on a dream I had about a bear when I was six years old. Believing In the Magic is based on a dream I had some years ago about a crow that came to me. To further enhance the messages of the animals in the books, I looked up the symbolism of each of them and included a description of them in the back of the books. Also, in Believing In the Magic, I have brought in the book, The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts as a prelude to the plot about Sarah meeting Leila, another girl with “special gifts”.

Tina: What do you want readers to know about Sarah? What makes her special? And what does she inspire in a young reader?

Erica: Sarah is, as I said above, based on my own childhood. I was shy and taunted by my peers, much like Sarah was in the first book Standing Up for Yourself. And although I had intuitive powers when I was younger, I have made them much more pronounced in Sarah. She is able to see spirits of those who have passed to the other side. Because of her psychic abilities, her peers tease her and think of her as a witch. However, through the help of the spirit animals that come to her, she realizes that her gift is special, and in the end (in Standing Up for Yourself), it inspires confidence in her. So much so that she helps another girl Leila, as Leila struggles with her own self esteem, as the story goes in Believing In the Magic. The series overall speaks to children with special gifts and how they can use these gifts positively to deal with various life circumstances. But it can speak to any child by helping them build confidence and self esteem in the face of any form of adversity.

Tina: How does this particular story fit into your larger vision as a writer? What part of you feels “on purpose” as the author of this book series?

Erica: As I continue down the path of my own personal evolution, I have encountered different facets of my personality. Right now, it is my inner child I am contending with. And because I am a writer at heart, I use my books to express that part of me that wishes to come out (and play). 🙂 I wrote my first book, Moms and Their Young Spirited Boys, in 1998 when my boys were young and I was struggling with their male energy. How was I supposed to raise them? I am female. In 2011, I published my novel, Anything is Possible, and Zesty Womanhood at 40 and Beyond, a non-fiction book for women 40+, when I was struggling with my own womanhood. In 2013, I published my book, Radiant Survivor, that developed out of my experience as a stroke survivor (I had a stroke in 2011). And now, I have created Sarah’s Gift series to allow that child-like part of me who wishes to speak her piece. In a sense, I am returning to my childhood and starting all over, but with the wisdom of an adult. It is a wonderful feeling because I feel like I am doing things that I wasn’t able to do as a child because of my own insecurities then.

Tina: I’d love to hear about your creative process. How do you get into a “writing frame of mind?” Do you have any rituals that inspire your creativity?

Erica: I hate to say it, but I don’t follow the rules you hear about how to write – that you should discipline yourself to write a certain amount at the same time every day. I write when I feel like it. But I am disciplined enough to meet my deadlines when I have them. You see, before I had my stroke, I was all consumed by the need to control and to have everything just so. That meant having rigid routines for everything. But when I had my stroke, all things broke down, as you might imagine. I went from racing frenetically on the treadmill of life to moving at a snail’s pace. And I had to learn to completely surrender all control, which meant I had to relinquish any sense of structure or order in my life for quite a while. I am just now getting back to putting order in my life, but it is with a totally different mindset. Now, I try to just flow organically, like a river flows. If I confront an obstacle, I try not to resist it. I just work around it. Does that make sense? I do meditate and I like to be outside in nature when it isn’t sweltering like it is right now here in Houston, TX. And I do journal and pay attention to the messages of my dreams. All these things have provided fodder for all my books.

Tina: What advice do you have for writers who want to inspire others through their stories?

Erica: Write from your heart! If you have a story to tell, then speak it through your heart. You will attract those people who resonate deeply with you. Show others how they might be able to apply the lessons of your stories to their own lives.

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Erica Tucci had a full life as a corporate manager of a Fortune 500 company, a healing arts business owner and an author. It all came to a screeching halt in June 2011 when she had a stroke. During her recovery, she gained much wisdom about what’s really important in life. Although she was a Reiki master, massage therapist and life coach as well as a corporate cog, she realized that her passion was her books. Her hope now is that the messages of her books will be an inspiration for others, young and old. Her most recent venture has been her Sarah’s Gift series, chapter books for 7-12 year olds about a young girl with psychic abilities, which speak to the children with special gifts, helping them deal with different life situations. Her other books include Moms and Their Young Spirited Boys (1998), Anything is Possible, a novel based on a true love story (2011), Zesty Womanhood at 40 and Beyond (2011), Radiant Survivor (2013 – Amazon bestseller), and most recently the first book of the Sarah’s Gift series Standing Up for Yourself (2016 – Amazon bestseller). The second book Believing In the Magic will be available for pre-order June 30 and is being released July 18. For more information, please visit: www.ericatucci.com