That 'What If?' factor can set a writing stage
“WheneverI start a novel, I'm always looking for two things: a bit of science that makesme go 'what if?' and a piece of history that ends in a question mark.”– James Rollins
One of twopen names for American veterinarian James Paul Czajkowski, Rollins is a writer ofaction-adventure/thriller novels who was born on this date in 1961. His had been practicing veterinary medicinewhen tried his hand at creative writing in 1999. He's been almost unstoppable since, penningnearly 50 novels, and counting. Amongthem the wildly successful Indiana Jonesand the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and his current bestseller Tides of Fire, part of his “Sigma Force”series.
His first novel, Witch Fire –written under his other pen name James Clemens – was “discovered” as an entryin a contest sponsored by the Maui Writers' Conference.
Rollins also never stopped practicingveterinary medicine and strives to help abandoned or abusedanimals. An amateur spelunker and acertified scuba diver, he found those pastimes to be great background andsettings and says much information can be gathered by simply asking. “Generally, if you preface a request with,'I'm an author writing a book,' for some reason, that seems to open a lot ofdoors.”
“I don't actually have a onewellspring of inspiration,” he said. “I subscribe to National Geographic, Scientific American, Discover, and a slew ofother magazines. And it is while reading articles for pleasure and interestthat an interesting 'What if?' often will pop into my head.”
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