When Inspiration Strikes, Authors Hit the Keys

When inspiration strikes, authors hit the keys

It's the random events in everyday life that spark ideas for novels, contend these four authors.

Have you ever finished reading an absorbing book and wondered, how did the author come up with that? Without that all-important ingredient, inspiration, ideas don't come easily.

But for these four authors, that inspiration emerged from the random events in everyday life. Here's how that spark for their novels struck, in their own words.

Take Cam Torrens, whose thriller, DAMAGED, features his relatable main character, Tyler Zahn. Of the former Colorado mining town, Silverthorne, that’s seated below the sparkling waters of the massive Dillon Reservoir, Zahn thinks: “You couldn’t pay me to own a house at the bottom of a pile of earth holding back five square miles of water.”

And so thought Torrens. “Every time I drive by that dam on I-70 it scares me to death, thinking about all that water. That’s what gave me the idea [for DAMAGED].” He explained his imagination was jazzed by an article he read about the Roberts Tunnel. Torrens “was fascinated by the idea of water going under the Continental Divide.”

That quirk of fear drove the author to write a "breakneck thriller [that] whips you through an audacious ecoterrorism plot and a military veteran’s personal demons, which are destined for a head-on crash," as a BookBub reviewer describe DAMAGED.

Matthew Arnold Stern's inspiration for AMIGA, about a programmer in the 1980s beset by secrets and a quirky employer, and realizes she must face her past to deal with her present. Will she find the answers to her problems in the computer that changed her life, the Commodore Amiga? That's what Stern wondered as he wrote a novel based on his own experiences in the computer industry then, which one reader described as getting "shaken up by the mystery of human nature and how some mistakes can plague a family for generations."

"Some mistakes can plague a family for generations."

In the author's words: "I worked for a small startup Commodore 64 software company. I started off writing press releases, but I wound up writing ads and user manuals. This job got me started in the technical writing field, which I’m still in today. My favorite computer from that era was the Commodore Amiga. It had features like multitasking and advanced graphics and audio that were years ahead of what was offered by IBM and Apple. I wanted to capture the excitement and possibilities of that early era of personal computing and what it was like being a young person during that time."

Mary Ellen Bramwell remembers exactly where she was when the idea for WHEN I WAS SEVEN came to her.

"My youngest was seven, and I was driving him home from his piano lesson. The rain was pouring down, and he commented it was 'raining dump trucks.' I had to smile at the unusual twist on the idiom."

As a book reviewer noted, the novel's narrator "embodies a rare combination of innocence and prescience."

Bramwell's inspirational spark was lit. "By the time we reached our home, the whole idea for my book was formed in my head. Children have a unique perspective on the world, not yet having enough life experience for their ideas and approaches to be formed or influenced by others. So, how would a family drama look if told from the perspective of a seven-year-old? How could he take concepts we complicate as adults and make them manageable and understandable?" It's an unanswerable question. And haven't all parents pondered that?

"What that looks like became probably my favorite novel I've written." —Mary Ellen Bramwell

[Note: And so I think, it's not raining cats and dogs, and it's not raining men, despite the Weather Girls' contention and so many cover artists promised; it's raining dump trucks. Hat tip to Bramwell's young son for a fantastic idiom I'd love to steal for a future character.]

Linda Rosen, author of THE DISHARMONY OF SILENCE, created a character determined to reveal a shocking eighty-four-year-old secret that has the potential to tear lives apart — or to bring her what she longs for. It all depends ...

It all depends on how she handles her newfound knowledge.

Rosen says, "It was a stunning May day, the sun was shining, the ocean water warm and my feet were in the sand. I was sitting on the beach in Hilton Head Island with my sister-in-law, Roni, and Ingrid, another friend, since my SIS is also a friend, not just a relative.

"Roni was talking about cleaning out her mother’s house for an estate sale. There was a painting hanging over the fireplace that’s hung in the same spot her whole life.  Although she and her siblings had a special place in their hearts for the art work, no one wanted it for their own home, yet they didn’t want to throw it out or sell it to a stranger. So, Roni decided to Google the artist and, if she found her, return the painting to her. I immediately turned to Ingrid and said, 'What a great idea for a novel!'”

A unique cameo in a painting prompted Rosen to "delve into the tangled webs of secrets and resentments spanning generations," as one 5-star review of THE DISHARMONY OF SILENCE wrote. That painting, author Kristin Harmel said, "may just be the key to untangling the complicated past." And secrets with complicated pasts are catnip to authors.

How did inspiration strike you?

If your idea formed into a published book and you'd like to be featured in a future post, please leave a comment.