…where do you get your story ideas?
That question always makes me smile because I get my ideas from so many things/places.
Sometimes I’m lucky and a story idea will come to me out of the blue…and other times an idea comes from something as simple as a painting, as is the case for my novel A DANGEROUS GAME. I fell in love with a gorgeous painting called The Music Room. Envision an elegant Regency drawing room, candelabras, a violin and glossy black piano. I instantly envisioned a young woman and a young man who are the bastard offspring of English Lords, and who gain power and fame through their music…only to risk everything for the chance to ruin the families who had abandoned them.
A trip to Scotland and a tour of an abbey and many castles served as inspiration behind my Scottish medieval time-travel BORDER LORD.
The idea for my Regency time-travel/ghost story NOW & FOREVER came about after I saw a black and white photograph of a haunted English manor house in a research book.
I love the movie Baby Boom (city girl meets country boy), which I used as the premise for TRAIL BOSS, my contemporary romance set in Wyoming.
So be it a painting, a movie, a photograph or a place I’ve visited…I find story ideas from just about any/everything.
What about you?
Like you, my stories come from all over the place. You can visit a location or watch a film and it’ll spur an idea. My Atlantean series came from my obsession for Miles O’Keefe, when he played Tarzan.
My new series for Tor stared out with a fairytale (Little Red Riding Hood). I kept wondering what would’ve happened if Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf turned out to be the same person. The rest as they say is history.
Comment by Jordan Summers — January 19, 2007 @ 5:45 pm
Hi Julia!
I have a pirate in my ancestry and I’d love to write a story about him. I’ve also led a pretty wild life and I’m working on my memoirs. Another story idea came to me because I’ve studied Native Americans all my life and feel an affinity with them. Same goes for serial killers. LOL! Not the affinity part but the studing part. So, I think it would be cool to write a romantic suspense or true crime novel.
Comment by Melissa — January 20, 2007 @ 12:30 pm
Jordan,
. And I like the fairytale twist.
I had a crush on Miles O’Keefe, too
Comment by Julia Templeton — January 20, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
I love this topic, Julia!
My historical, THE SEA KING, was inspired by Gustav Klimt’s THE KISS. My characters usually have a theme song too. I get in the mood to write scenes for the hero in my current WIP with ZERO, by Smashing Pumpkins.
Comment by Jolie — January 20, 2007 @ 3:46 pm
Anywhere and everywhere…and sometimes just from my own crazy mind and the insane things I do…when you read one of my books, wonder… hahahah!
Comment by Alyssa Brooks — January 20, 2007 @ 5:20 pm
Some of my best ideas come from things I contemplate doing (or not doing) … the big “what-if”. I have a pretty wild imagination so it can get intense or at least intensely creative. Movies are a big inspiration, especially if I think about “what if” something else happened? Sort of the “Sliding Doors” possibility - what if my HEA couple never met?
Great post!
Comment by Mia King — January 20, 2007 @ 7:57 pm
I just a pick an idea, then try to make it interesting.
Comment by spyscribbler — January 21, 2007 @ 12:37 pm