Cynthia Hamilton's Blog: Reading and Writing - Posts Tagged "i-b-houses-of-deception-i-b"
Where does inspiration come from?
I was a complete zombie when I finished my 13th and final read-through of the latest Madeline adventure, Houses of Deception, due out in August. I can honestly say I’ve never worked so hard or fast to make a deadline, mainly because I never had a publisher before. When I finally hit the send button, I felt certifiably brain-dead.
So, you can imagine how surprised I was when my bombed-out mind suddenly lit up with villainous possibilities as my husband shared a disturbing story of embezzlement with me. It got me thinking about those folks who come across as having unimpeachable moral character, placed in positions of overseeing large sums of other people’s money. Hmm… So much potential there! Immediately, characters and a storyline bloomed in my beleaguered brain, completely wiping out my mental exhaustion.
But that’s the thing about inspiration: It’s a gift, and it always comes to me when I least expect it, leading me down paths I never considered before. I just jump right in, never knowing where I’m headed, fingers crossed that I won’t hit a wall I can’t scale over. In the writing world, this is known as flying by the seat of one’s pants, which makes me a lifetime member of the frequent flyer club.
I can’t help but wonder why I get these bolts of inspirations. Am I just more susceptible than others? Do I have too much imagination to start with, which makes me ideally suited to writing fiction? Do I have nothing better to do? Ha ha!
When Madeline first popped into my head, I had been silently grousing about how difficult it is to get noticed in a sea full of books. I wagered if I wrote a detective series about a female P.I. with loose morals, it would be an instant success. Since I couldn’t really see myself writing trashy novels, the pitchman in my head cleaned her up, making her a pillar of Santa Barbara society until she knocked down her husband’s house of cards.
In Houses of Deception, the past calls in a debt, and Madeline must do everything in her power to find the son of the man who lost his life while trying to protect hers. Meanwhile, an anniversary party put on by Current Affairs leads to a missing wife and lots of murky questions. I can thank the inspiration gods for these scenarios, both of which get a little crazy as they play out.
I’ll be asking some of my writer friends to share what inspires them in coming weeks. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this question: what inspires you?
So, you can imagine how surprised I was when my bombed-out mind suddenly lit up with villainous possibilities as my husband shared a disturbing story of embezzlement with me. It got me thinking about those folks who come across as having unimpeachable moral character, placed in positions of overseeing large sums of other people’s money. Hmm… So much potential there! Immediately, characters and a storyline bloomed in my beleaguered brain, completely wiping out my mental exhaustion.
But that’s the thing about inspiration: It’s a gift, and it always comes to me when I least expect it, leading me down paths I never considered before. I just jump right in, never knowing where I’m headed, fingers crossed that I won’t hit a wall I can’t scale over. In the writing world, this is known as flying by the seat of one’s pants, which makes me a lifetime member of the frequent flyer club.
I can’t help but wonder why I get these bolts of inspirations. Am I just more susceptible than others? Do I have too much imagination to start with, which makes me ideally suited to writing fiction? Do I have nothing better to do? Ha ha!
When Madeline first popped into my head, I had been silently grousing about how difficult it is to get noticed in a sea full of books. I wagered if I wrote a detective series about a female P.I. with loose morals, it would be an instant success. Since I couldn’t really see myself writing trashy novels, the pitchman in my head cleaned her up, making her a pillar of Santa Barbara society until she knocked down her husband’s house of cards.
In Houses of Deception, the past calls in a debt, and Madeline must do everything in her power to find the son of the man who lost his life while trying to protect hers. Meanwhile, an anniversary party put on by Current Affairs leads to a missing wife and lots of murky questions. I can thank the inspiration gods for these scenarios, both of which get a little crazy as they play out.
I’ll be asking some of my writer friends to share what inspires them in coming weeks. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this question: what inspires you?
Where does inspiration come from?
I was a complete zombie when I finished my 13th and final read-through of the latest Madeline adventure, Houses of Deception, due out in August. I can honestly say I’ve never worked so hard or fast to make a deadline, mainly because I never had a publisher before. When I finally hit the send button, I felt certifiably brain-dead.
So, you can imagine how surprised I was when my bombed-out mind suddenly lit up with villainous possibilities as my husband shared a disturbing story of embezzlement with me. It got me thinking about those folks who come across as having unimpeachable moral character, placed in positions of overseeing large sums of other people’s money. Hmm… So much potential there! Immediately, characters and a storyline bloomed in my beleaguered brain, completely wiping out my mental exhaustion.
But that’s the thing about inspiration: It’s a gift, and it always comes to me when I least expect it, leading me down paths I never considered before. I just jump right in, never knowing where I’m headed, fingers crossed that I won’t hit a wall I can’t scale over. In the writing world, this is known as flying by the seat of one’s pants, which makes me a lifetime member of the frequent flyer club.
I can’t help but wonder why I get these bolts of inspiration. Am I just more susceptible than others? Do I have too much imagination to start with, which makes me ideally suited to writing fiction? Do I have nothing better to do? Ha ha!
When Madeline first popped into my head years ago, I had been silently grousing about how difficult it is to get noticed in a sea full of books. I wagered if I wrote a detective series about a female P.I. with loose morals, it would be an instant success. Since I couldn’t really see myself writing trashy novels, the pitchman in my head cleaned her up, making her a pillar of Santa Barbara society until she knocked down her husband’s house of cards.
In Houses of Deception, the past calls in a debt, and Madeline must do everything in her power to find the son of the man who lost his life while trying to protect hers. Meanwhile, an anniversary party put on by Current Affairs leads to a missing wife and lots of murky questions. I can thank the inspiration gods for these scenarios, both of which get a little crazy as they play out.
I’ll be asking some of my writer friends to share what inspires them in coming weeks. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this question: what inspires you?
So, you can imagine how surprised I was when my bombed-out mind suddenly lit up with villainous possibilities as my husband shared a disturbing story of embezzlement with me. It got me thinking about those folks who come across as having unimpeachable moral character, placed in positions of overseeing large sums of other people’s money. Hmm… So much potential there! Immediately, characters and a storyline bloomed in my beleaguered brain, completely wiping out my mental exhaustion.
But that’s the thing about inspiration: It’s a gift, and it always comes to me when I least expect it, leading me down paths I never considered before. I just jump right in, never knowing where I’m headed, fingers crossed that I won’t hit a wall I can’t scale over. In the writing world, this is known as flying by the seat of one’s pants, which makes me a lifetime member of the frequent flyer club.
I can’t help but wonder why I get these bolts of inspiration. Am I just more susceptible than others? Do I have too much imagination to start with, which makes me ideally suited to writing fiction? Do I have nothing better to do? Ha ha!
When Madeline first popped into my head years ago, I had been silently grousing about how difficult it is to get noticed in a sea full of books. I wagered if I wrote a detective series about a female P.I. with loose morals, it would be an instant success. Since I couldn’t really see myself writing trashy novels, the pitchman in my head cleaned her up, making her a pillar of Santa Barbara society until she knocked down her husband’s house of cards.
In Houses of Deception, the past calls in a debt, and Madeline must do everything in her power to find the son of the man who lost his life while trying to protect hers. Meanwhile, an anniversary party put on by Current Affairs leads to a missing wife and lots of murky questions. I can thank the inspiration gods for these scenarios, both of which get a little crazy as they play out.
I’ll be asking some of my writer friends to share what inspires them in coming weeks. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this question: what inspires you?
