Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

"Where do you get your ideas?" is one of the most frequently asked questions readers ask authors. In other words, what inspires you to write? I can't speak for all authors, but for me it could be just about anything--a news report, a melody on the radio, an uplifting essay, an emotional memory, or just an ordinary daily experience . It's whatever grabs me and won't let go until I've captured it in written form. Of course, it's not a story yet but just the promise of one. It's what sets my imagination loose to answer the crucial "What If?" questions.

The idea for my first novel, Sins of Silence, began as a typical boating experience. I sat on the deck of our sailboat lazily sipping a cup of tea while watching other boaters navigate around the rocky breakwater as they left the marina for the blue waters of Elliott Bay in Seattle. This common marine sight got me asking, "What if a yacht was in trouble and about to crash into the breakwater? What if the vessel was rescued before it crashed and sank? What if two dead bodies were discovered aboard? From there, other questions followed: What do I know or how to do? (sailing), What do I care about? (adopted children), What do I need to learn? (police procedures). Those questions led to many more until I fleshed out the bones of the mystery behind the ill-fated vessel. The finished story would inspire two more books in a sailing mystery series featuring sailing instructor and amateur sleuth Kellie Montgomery.

A case could be made for defining my inspiration as a discovery process. I follow the same What If? pattern (with varying answers) when writing all my stories. But it also helps to have a wild imagination that is inexplicably drawn to murder and mayhem!