Inspiration

The historic Story Inn

Several years ago, a friend and I took a mini-vacation to Nashville, Indiana. On the way home, completely by accident, we came across The Story Inn. It looked interesting and, since they served lunch and we were starving, we decided to go inside. And I immediately felt a strange sensation, one I couldn't and still can't explain. 

A few days later, curious about the inn, I decided to look it up on the Internet and I read this:

When the current owner of the inn took over the business, he was a skeptic but he now knows for sure the inn is one of the most haunted places in Indiana. One of the most common stories among guests and hotel staff is the “Blue Lady”. She is believed to be the spirit of the wife of Dr. George Story. The room where the Blue Lady is always seen was once called the Garden Room. However, it has been renamed after its most frequent visitor. People believe that if a blue light is placed in the room in the on position, the Blue Lady would appear. However, there have also been cases when the Blue Lady would just appear on her own. She is described as having blue eyes and has the habit of leaving behind items that are blue in color. Some people also reported smelling cherry tobacco, the Blue Lady’s favorite, when she was still alive.

But time passed and I forgot about The Story Inn - until I was trying to come up with ideas for a new mystery series and it popped back into my head. Physically, the "fictional" Storyville Inn doesn't resemble the "real" inn at all but the history and the atmosphere do and it will be the setting for my fourth Small Town mystery. Which just goes to show that a writer never knows when or where inspiration will strike. 

The View from my window

From my office window, I watched, mesmerized, as a large hawk glided effortlessly in the sky. I’d seen the hawk on several occasions and I was always impressed with him. I didn’t know much about hawks but, on this particular day, I decided to learn more. So I Googled the subject. And what I learned became an important part of the book I was writing: Secrets in Storyville, a small town mystery.

That got me thinking about some of the other characters, plots and settings I had used in my previous novels and I realized that many of my ideas came from places and/or people I’d seen in my neighborhood or in the surrounding area. 

One day, while sitting on my porch, I saw a tall, skinny man with a long gray ponytail walking his cat on a leash. For some reason, that got my attention and the man became John Berkley in Mixed Messages, my first Malone mystery. John also had a role in the second book, Unfinished Business.

Another day, I was driving not far from where I live and I spotted a dark car with tinted windows pulling out of a driveway. An everyday occurrence, right? But this time, it made an impression on me. I wondered why the windows were tinted and the scenario I created in my mind was the basis for a major character: Lawrence Berger, an albino.

The creative process amazes me! A writer never knows when a sight, a sound, a smell or a few words overheard will trigger an idea. And it usually happens when we least expect it.

I’m currently working on the second small town mystery: Murder at Maple Ridge. The setting? It’s based on a house I’d admired for years, about forty-five minutes from where I live. I love old houses and, like the Victorian in my Malone mysteries, this house fascinated me.

The point I’m trying to make is that, if you want to be a writer, you don’t have to travel to exotic places to find inspiration. Just look out your window and if something catches your eye, like the hawk, let your imagination soar.

What inspired me to write Secrets in Storyville?

As a reader, I’ve always loved a good mystery. Most of the books I’d read were standalone mystery/suspense novels. But, several years ago, I picked up a cozy mystery, which took place in a small town, and I was hooked on cozies. Now, I still love a good suspense novel but I find that I read more cozies than any other mystery sub-genre. Some are standalones and some are part of a series.

As a writer, I never know where inspiration for a story will come from. But it’s always from people, places and things that have crossed my path. Sometimes they’re recent and other times they emerge from my memory bank.

When I finished writing my fifth Malone mystery, Marnie Malone, I wasn’t sure what my next book would be. I’d spent so many years on the series and had become so involved in the lives of the characters. I knew I’d miss the Malones but I also realized it was time to end the series and to do something totally different.

My Malone mysteries are all written in the third person and they are set in real locations, places that really exist. An old Victorian in my neighborhood was the inspiration for the series.

For a long time, I’d wanted to write a cozy mystery in the first person and set it in a fictional small town. Now I had my chance. Secrets in Storyville is completely separate from and different than my Malone mysteries but the books have one thing in common: an old house inspired me. As it turned out, I didn’t use that house as the main setting in my new book but it is a secondary setting and important to the plot. 

The other elements of the book came to me in the usual way – bits and pieces that somehow eventually coalesced to form a book. A book that was so much fun to write!

I hope you enjoy reading Secrets in Storyville as much as I enjoyed writing it.