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| Photo courtesy of M. Hollis Hutchinson |
In our continuing series on where
authors get their ideas, today we feature Maggie Foster. Maggie writes the Loch
Lonach Mystery Series, featuring modern day descendants of the Scottish
immigrants who settled in Texas. Learn more about Maggie and her books at her
website.
The De’il is in th’ Details
Years ago, when Jurassic Park
came out, I realized I had missed a bet. That could have been my novel turned into a blockbuster
movie. After all, I had read the same National
Geographic article about how some frogs, when in a same-sex environment,
can change to the opposite sex, so the species can continue. “Life will find a
way.”
I’m not suggesting I had the talent, experience, craft, or courage to
write that novel at that point in my life. I’m just saying I noticed the
detail, thought it mildly interesting, then put it away. When I saw how Michael
Crichton had used that tiny bit of information in his story, it hit me like a
punch in the solar plexus.
I write murder mysteries. My background is in healthcare, with an
overlay of law, and a smoor of teaching. The combination has served me well in
the field of creating crime, but it took me years to realize how critical tiny
details were to storytelling. Now, when I read or hear something that is
unusual, obscure, or rare, I write it down, then set myself an exercise in
brainstorming. What if that detail was the pivotal bit of evidence that cracks
the case for my detective?
This requires research, sometimes a lot of it. I don’t limit myself to
the Internet, since everyone has access to the same things I can reach that
way. Instead, I read. Everything. I read news articles about accidental
poisonings. I read FEMA and OSHA regulations. I read dry scientific treatises
on why we will never be able to clone a living human being. I read it all. The
more obscure, the better. Then I pick out what I want to use and get to work.
The second stage of writing is just that – writing. Get the rough idea
down on (electronic) paper and start tinkering. What is do-able, as it stands
today? What would I like/need for it to do? What changes can I get away with?
(This is fiction so everything is fair game, except there are rules for the
genre and I must follow them or be relegated to the fires of hell.)
Plan for the writing to evolve. That lovely little kernel of an idea
must become a Percheron, hauling the reader along with it, without anyone
really caring how the beer got from point A to point B.
I have thousands of details lined up in my files, simmering. Most will
never see the light of day, but some, like the frog sex detail above, could
blossom into a classic. If you want to write and you think you can’t come up
with ideas, may I suggest that instead of looking for a story that will fit the
Hero’s Journey format, you consider letting your ideas grow organically. Let
them lead you from the critical bit of knowledge your protagonist needs but
didn’t know she had, to the inevitable conclusion of a
new classic. Happy writing!
The Arms of Death
Loch Lonach Mystery, Book 1
Everyone dies. Not everyone dies because they chose the wrong
ancestors.
When one of her ICU patients dies unexpectedly, amateur sleuth Ginny
Forbes finds herself on the trail of a centuries-old secret that is of no
importance and no interest to anyone other than herself. Except, of course,
that no tale of secrets is ever that simple and Ginny is about to find out just
how dangerous idle curiosity can be.
In the manner of Peter Wimsey, Miss Marple, and Brother Cadfael comes a
series of murder mysteries set in a community peopled by evocative characters
that read like old friends. The distinctive Scottish voices offer a glimpse
into a world not usually open to modern mystery readers and the deftly woven
tales of deceit and greed will have everyone cheering the triumph of good over
evil. The men in kilts just make it that much more fun.
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