Where do Ideas Come From?
I thought I’d write a few short essays on where my ideas come from, and how they turn out.
My first published novel was “The Dark Lady.” I was passing through a room where the TV was on and the full face of an actress appeared on the screen.
My first thought was, “She could easily play an evil queen.” My second thought was, “I wonder, how evil queens get their bad reputations?”
The title, The Dark Lady was born. Then I went off on a bit of a tangent, starting with the character as a young girl. Rather than a take-off on the big bad witch, she became more modeled on a young Queen Elizabeth the First tangling with grasping courtiers and power-hungry nobles.
Some people complained that the title was misleading. There was no big bad nasty lady. That is certainly debatable. To close my point, I guess they didn’t finish the third book in the series. There is also a good hint or two as to the direction my main character was heading. I think she was only sixteen in the end of book three with plenty of rope left to hang herself or her neighbours.
As an added comment on the suitability of The Dark Lady for certain age groups; the book was written without consideration for the reader’s age. If asked, I would say I hoped adults would enjoy it and that certainly seems the case from the personal feedback I have received. I had one reviewer comment that the Dark Lady was a novel directed at teens. I had a second reviewer state that the Dark Lady was certainly not suitable for a teenage audience.
I rest my case.
Next time, where The Queen’s Pawn came from.
RJH
My first published novel was “The Dark Lady.” I was passing through a room where the TV was on and the full face of an actress appeared on the screen.
My first thought was, “She could easily play an evil queen.” My second thought was, “I wonder, how evil queens get their bad reputations?”
The title, The Dark Lady was born. Then I went off on a bit of a tangent, starting with the character as a young girl. Rather than a take-off on the big bad witch, she became more modeled on a young Queen Elizabeth the First tangling with grasping courtiers and power-hungry nobles.
Some people complained that the title was misleading. There was no big bad nasty lady. That is certainly debatable. To close my point, I guess they didn’t finish the third book in the series. There is also a good hint or two as to the direction my main character was heading. I think she was only sixteen in the end of book three with plenty of rope left to hang herself or her neighbours.
As an added comment on the suitability of The Dark Lady for certain age groups; the book was written without consideration for the reader’s age. If asked, I would say I hoped adults would enjoy it and that certainly seems the case from the personal feedback I have received. I had one reviewer comment that the Dark Lady was a novel directed at teens. I had a second reviewer state that the Dark Lady was certainly not suitable for a teenage audience.
I rest my case.
Next time, where The Queen’s Pawn came from.
RJH
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