Where do your story ideas come from?
--That's different for every one of my books. My first series, The Reyes Family Romances, began with an idea I had about how a woman has to rebuild herself after a divorce that was not her idea. And with children involved, it gets much more complicated. She has to rebuild her sense of self, and reacquaint herself with her sexuality, which was dealt a heavy blow when her ex-husband rejected her...no matter the reasons.
--Each of the subsequent books grew when I wrote "The end," at the end of a book. The supporting characters in that book would then start whispering in my ear, telling me their stories, and inspiring me to write about them next. It was like finishing one set of voices, allowed another set to speak more loudly. I was at the mercy of my muse who wanted me to write!
My female spy novels were inspired by my secret desire to be an agent, fostered by years of watching Mission Impossible (the TV show, not the movies.) I also watched The Man From UNCLE,
The Girl From UNCLE, and of course, everyone's favorite movie misogynist, James Bond. But I wanted the females to be the spies. So I wrote a couple of novels about them.
My vampire books grew from a combination of dreams. I had a dream about a situation a biologist found herself in, but after a chapter, I got writer's block. Then I had another dream, in which a tall, very pale man with white hair told me that I needed to finish that book. I told him that I was having trouble. He told me that's because I was trying to give her the wrong hero...it had to be him. Then he smiled and showed me vampire teeth. I told him I don't do vampires. Since the Mayan End of Days was involved in the story, he grinned at me and told me to research the Mayans. I woke up the next day and did just that. I found that every one of their rituals involved blood-letting. Weird, huh? Unless their rulers were vampires...
My other series is set in Grand Marais, Minnesota, in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). I LOVE it up there! Husband refuses to move up there because their winters are so harsh and long. So one of the times we were driving home, to stop myself from crying with unhappiness at leaving, I started to entertain myself with what it might be like if you fell in love with a local person, and got to move up there permanently. From that grew For The Love of His Life, and 2 sequels.
I also have a couple of stand-alone books which I pulled from a closing publisher, and plan to look into self-publishing, maybe over the summer when I don't work so much.
So how do other authors get their ideas? Check out the next author on the list to see:
http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com