Sources of Creative Energy

Recently, Alice, my dear friend and loyal reader, asked me where I get the inspiration and motivation to write my novels. By the way, she also bought me a T-shirt for Christmas that reads: Careful, or you'll end up in my novel. She should know, because I patterned a major character after her in Shadows in Replay. She says she's flattered. Hmmm, I wonder. I certainly intended it to be complimentary.

Anyway, it was a great question and I entertained (or bored) her with details of how I go about creating the plots, characters, and historical background within each of my books.

1) I have a vivid sense of imagination and I like to reflect on how I might behave if I was living in a different time or place. This often leads to visualizing a moment in history and playing around with it in my mind. So I take ordinary people, throw them into the middle of extraordinary situations and let them fumble about. It's fun to mess with fictional people, without causing real damage.

2) I have extreme moments of inspiration, which leads to flurries of activity researching the possibilities online. I'm a Google addict and will search high-and-low to seek out details. If I'm successful and discover lots of information, then I'll start saving websites and copying details to ponder later. If I run into a void, I may shelve the idea for awhile, but it never dies. I've learned over time that searching is all about what keywords you're using, so a few months down the road might give me a different perspective.

3) Relationships. People provide incredible material, either as characters or as seed planters. Many times a simple conversation will lead to a finished novel. This has happened several times. A question about whether Winston Churchill ever visited FDR at the Little White House in Georgia led to A Favor for FDR. A Statement regarding my ongoing fascination with Iceland led to Crooked Cross Factor. A comment that I should write for young adults created the excitement, which spilled over into Secret of the Dragon's Eye and the continuing series.

4) Reading. I love to read, so therefore, I write what I love to read. Yes, my ego is involved, but I like my characters and I strive to create people that my readers can relate to. I'm usually successful. I have a wide range of subjects, but I fit into the action/adventure genre, if I must give myself a label. I even like my bad guys, because they're complicated.

5) The drive to keep improving. I'm a much better writer today than I was yesterday, last week, last month, last year, and so on. I pay attention to reader feedback and criticism. I'm striving to create a great novel, not in the literary sense, but from the reader's viewpoint. I practice the art of writing suspense, dialogue, setting, place and style.

6) I'm a master at plots. I can spin a pretty good tale. I'm a storyteller.

7) Formula. I have settled on a style and a format. All of my books follow in that vein. There's a comfort level, both from my standpoint, because I know how I'm going to design my writing. The reader knows what to expect and sits down to read a story that will flow in a certain manner. I may gravitate away in some ways, but Derek Hart has established what the reader can expect.

Finally, there are a few very special people who are the catalysts behind most of my books. They're not always aware of the impact, but it's real and profound. Some might not even believe they've had that much influence in the outcome, but it's true. For as I travel along this journey called life, I credit people more than anything. There are so many personalities that have touched me in some way. I can't always express my gratitude and joy openly, so it ends up on the pages of my novels. And one person in particular will always have godlike status for the power of creativity they have created in me. For that, there are no words in the English language to capture my respect and love.

But I keep on trying!