At some point last year, I stumbled across a revelation and an inspiration. I was listening to a Neil Gaiman short story collection, and I was completely enthralled and entertained. When I finished it, I couldn’t wait to get home and open my laptop to write. It wasn’t to emulate anything of his or anything like that. It was a sentence he used, and that sparked an idea I could not help but flesh out into a story of some kind.
The sentence? I can’t recall it exactly. Lol. However, I remember it was excellently written. The story he’d written was about Susan Pevensie, the lone survivor of the Narnia chronicles by C.S. Lewis. It was titled ‘The Problem of Susan’ and it was brilliant, sad, and illuminating.
So, when I started typing once I got home, what emerged was ‘Give Me the Roses,’ a short story which bears absolutely no resemblance to Mr. Gaiman’s, as it’s about a widower getting a tattoo to commemorate the recent death of his nagging, overbearing wife. It’s a bit of humor, a little darkness, and a gentle reminder to not deify the dearly departed. It won a second-place prize at the Ozark Creative Writers conference in a contest, and it’ll probably appear in a collection of mine at some point.
Anyhow, the point is that reading and listening to other writers will without a doubt spark something to turn into a tale. I’m currently performing the voice-over for an audiobook ‘Animal Sacrifice’ by Gil Miller, which was released the other day in print and e-book. Anyhow, the main character is a detective, Max Joplin, who is jaded by experience to not trust too many people. Buy the book.
Anyhow, I was wrapping up a session when an idea came to me. No, not about a police detective, but about a tow-truck driver who finds himself a murder suspect and reaches out to his clever older brother for help. It might be a finished novel by next year, as I have lots of other projects to complete. I think the brother’s name will be Gil, an homage to a friend and fellow author whose work inspired something new.
Anyhow, the point is that reading and listening to other writers will without a doubt spark something to turn into a tale. I’m currently performing the voice-over for an audiobook ‘Animal Sacrifice’ by Gilbert Miller, which was released the other day in print and e-book. Anyhow, the main character is a detective, Max Joplin, who is jaded by experience to not trust too many people. Buy the book.
Look at movies, read books, watch plays, marvel at paintings, and let that art inspire you to do something extraordinary. It works for me.
