It’s one of the most common questions authors hear: Where do you get your ideas?
Okay, I haven’t heard it a lot yet, what with only have published two books and stories in various anthologies. But I’m heading such queries off at the pass, so to speak, by saying: Everywhere.
Moved to Murder was very much based on my own experiences in England (barring the finding dead bodies part). I just had to add the murder. The second book, which I am finishing up now, was very loosely based on a real-life event with the addition of some red herrings and twists. The stories in Supernatural Shindig were mostly based on exercises given as part of my writing group.
But for real inspiration, I have to admit I get fired up by television shows from Buffy the Vampire to Gilmore Girls and, especially, Castle.
For those of you who don’t know, the eponymous series Castle is about a mystery writer who tags along with a police detective for inspiration for his novels. In a somewhat “meta” twist, I find myself fascinated by Castle’s out-of-the-box thought processes and the creativity of the show’s writers in coming up with new and unusual crimes and ways to solve them. The juxtaposition of Detective Beckett’s logical approach and the imaginative narrative leaps of the title character somehow expose paths of investigation that inevitably lead to the killer.
Whether it’s ghosts, zombies, or time travelers, Castle is willing to entertain the impossible and his esoteric knowledge to suss out the truth. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of his solutions come from the research all authors do to ensure a certain level of accuracy in our novels. In one case it was spotting an inconsistency in a flower that led to an answer, and Castle knows a lot about poisons and weapons. As crime writers are wont to warn, it doesn’t do to look at our Google history. But many times it’s simply the man’s excitement for life that helps with the storyline, like when he’s able to identify and track down a fake superhero based on the details of his costume.
As an ex-Knowledge Manager, it warms my heart to see information being recycled so effectively and usefully, and it’s a lesson to us all to never stop being curious about things. I recently attended an online seminar about everyday poisons found in the average household and it scared the crap out of me. But oh, what a rich vein of inspiration for a writer.
The answer tends to come from Beckett’s practical application of Castle’s knowledge, but it is the latter who provides the fun, the humanity, and the mind-boggling intuition that makes the show such a joy to watch.
I’ll always be trying to make my books equally as entertaining.