Spooky Inspiration
By Gail Z. Martin
People always ask authors, “Where do you get your ideas?”
The truth is—from everywhere. News articles, social media posts, TV, museums, being out in public and observing people or eavesdropping on conversations, old movies, and folklore. One idea sparks another and then we’re off and running chasing a plot bunny. Or we view or read something with a certain trope and end up thinking, “I’d have taken that story kernel in a whole different direction” and end up with something inspired but unique.
Finding ideas is easy—narrowing the list down to what I have time to write and what is likely to actually resonate with readers is more difficult. Every author I know keeps a list somewhere of possible stories that they might get around to writing when the time is right.
I’ve been inspired by every spooky paranormal book, movie, or TV show I’ve ever consumed, as well as all the weird history, folklore, and mythology I’ve read. The same is true for every ghost tour, museum, and haunted place I’ve visited, plus historic sites. I’ll walk around and see things and think, “that would be really good in a story”.
For example, the Deadly Curiosities series arose out of a conference I attended in Charleston, SC. I took an extra day and explored the city and fell in love. Right then and there, I knew that I wanted to set a series in Charleston because of its deep paranormal ties, its fascinating and haunted history, and the way the city spoke to me. I also wanted to good excuse to visit as frequently as possible!
Whenever I get stuck on what needs to happen next in a book, I dive into research. I’ll look up something about the story’s history, the magical traditions I’m using, or some other detail knowing that I’ll find new ideas that are perfect but that I didn’t know beforehand that I needed. It keeps me on my toes. Writing is never boring!
You can find me online at www.GailZMartin.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, and on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin. My Amazon author page is https://www.amazon.com/Gail-Z-Martin/e/B002BM8XSQ and I’m also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morganbriceauthor/ My Facebook reader group is the Shadow Alliance https://www.facebook.com/groups/MartinShadowAlliance and the online convention I help run, ConTinual, can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/ConTinual