People often ask me where the inspiration for The Light Between Us came from.
The honest answer is that it came from lots of different places. Some of it came from imagination. Some came from life experiences. Some came from the people I’ve met over the years.
And quite a lot of it came from standing around in Cornwall with a camera, pretending I knew exactly what I was looking for.
The reality is that photographers spend a surprising amount of time wandering around saying things like, “That looks interesting,” before promptly heading in the opposite direction because something else caught their eye.
Photography Teaches You to Look
One of the biggest gifts photography has given me is the ability to slow down and really look at the world around me.
Before I took up photography at the age of 40, I saw landscapes.
Now I notice light.
I notice textures.
I notice patterns.
I notice the way a lone tree can completely transform a scene.
I also notice how often the weather forecast is completely wrong.
Particularly in Cornwall.
You can arrive at a location under glorious blue skies and find yourself battling sideways rain twenty minutes later. Or you can spend all day under grey cloud only to be rewarded with a spectacular sunset just as you’re thinking about heading home.
It’s unpredictable.
And that’s one of the reasons I love it.
The Bent Tree
Readers of The Light Between Us will know that the bent tree becomes an important symbol throughout the novel.
It’s a tree that has endured years of storms, survived difficult conditions, and found a way to keep growing despite the challenges it has faced.
In many ways, it reflects the journey of Sean and Linda.
The funny thing is that people often assume the tree is based on a real location.
It isn’t.
At least, not yet.
The tree exists very clearly in my imagination. I know exactly what it looks like.
Unfortunately, the Cornish countryside hasn’t quite got the memo.
Every time I visit Cornwall, I find myself scanning cliff tops, fields and coastal paths looking for it.
The people around me have become quite used to this behaviour.
Most people go on holiday searching for beaches, restaurants or tourist attractions.
I appear to be searching for fictional vegetation.
On more than one occasion I’ve spotted a promising-looking tree in the distance, marched enthusiastically towards it, and then discovered it was either completely wrong or, in one memorable case, not actually a tree at all.
Why Cornwall Matters
Although The Light Between Us isn’t set entirely in Cornwall, the county plays an important role in the story.
For me, Cornwall has always felt like a place where people can pause and think.
Life seems to move a little differently there.
The coastline encourages reflection.
The sea creates perspective.
The endless horizons remind us that the world is often bigger than whatever problem we’re currently worrying about.
It’s no accident that Sean and Linda choose Cornwall as the place where they reconnect later in life.
If you’re going to revisit the past, have difficult conversations and rediscover feelings you thought you’d left behind decades ago, you might as well do it somewhere with spectacular views.
Photography and Storytelling
The more time I spend writing, the more similarities I see between photography and storytelling.
A photograph captures a single moment.
A novel explores everything that surrounds that moment.
As a photographer, I’m always asking questions.
Who walked this path before me?
Who lived in that cottage?
What stories are hidden behind that weathered doorway?
Those same questions often become the starting point for a novel.
Photography encourages curiosity.
Writing rewards it.
The two creative pursuits feed each other constantly.
A photograph can inspire a scene.
A location can inspire a character.
A landscape can inspire an entire story.
Looking for Stories
One of the reasons I return to Cornwall so often is because it feels full of stories.
Every harbour, cliff path, fishing village and hidden cove seems to have a history waiting to be discovered.
As a photographer, I’m drawn to the visual beauty.
As a writer, I’m fascinated by the stories that might have unfolded there.
And occasionally, as a novelist, I’m distracted by the possibility that the perfect bent tree might be just around the next corner.
So far, it never is.
But that’s part of the fun.
After all, if I ever find the exact tree from The Light Between Us, I’ll probably spend six months trying to photograph it from every possible angle before deciding none of the pictures quite match the version in my head.
Writers are difficult customers.
The Search Continues
The Light Between Us is a story about love, memory, creativity, second chances and finding your way back to the things that matter most.
In many ways, Cornwall represents all of those themes.
It’s a place that inspires me as a photographer and as a writer.
And who knows?
Perhaps one day, somewhere on a windswept Cornish headland, I’ll finally find the bent tree I’ve been looking for all these years.
If I do, there will almost certainly be photographs.
Lots and lots of photographs.
Probably enough photographs to make the tree wish I’d never found it.
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