All Blog Posts Tagged 'inspiration' (20)

Pauline Rowson entertains the National Trust with tales of murder, mystery and DI Andy Horton

On Thursday 20 February I was delighted to entertain the volunteers of the Southampton and District National Trust.



I talked about the inspiration behind the DI Andy Horton series of crime novels, where I get my ideas from, and how I write the…

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Added by Pauline Rowson on February 21, 2014 at 6:41pm — No Comments

CRIMINAL MINDS

Anyone else here at Crimespace addicted to television's CRIMINAL MINDS? I love that show and have seen every episode at least once. It inspires me to write devious plots and horrible villains.

Happy writing!

Added by Cheryl Norman on February 19, 2012 at 7:23am — No Comments

Ideas for crime and thrillers can come from anywhere including social networks and cyber crime says crime author Pauline Rowson

I came across a fascinating article on the Writers Forensic Blog, which not only provides some basic research for someone writing a crime or thriller novel but can also throw up ideas for plots and perhaps warn those using social networks to be a little bit more careful about what they post.



Below is just a flavour of  what can happen from author and law professor, Lori Andrews…

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Added by Pauline Rowson on February 9, 2012 at 9:40pm — No Comments

The Real Story Behind the Novel…

It’s interesting how we can see things more clearly when we look back at events, how it shapes the present and even the future.  Here’s the real story behind my recent thriller novel Silent Partner. 

Sometime during 2002, I had an idea for a…

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Added by Jennifer Chase on August 16, 2011 at 8:28am — 1 Comment

Lessons I Have Learned from Bacardi

“But why is the Rum gone?”

 

Or so said Johnny Depp in one of his pirate movies.  I’m certain, for his character in any event, the rum was his muse or at a minimum his motivation.

 

However, the Bacardi I‘m talking about is not actually a distilled spirit, but you could call this Bacardi a muse.  Of sorts.

 

Bacardi is one of my Australian Shepherds.  He’s also very supportive of my writing; however, I feel his support has more to do with the fact…

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Added by sean on March 16, 2011 at 8:34am — No Comments

Morse has Oxford, Rebus Edinburgh, Andy Horton has the Solent

Many of you know that I draw my inspiration and ideas from the area in which I live and where my DI Andy Horton crime novelsand thriller novelsare set: Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight and generally the Solent area on the South Coast of England.

My marine mystery country is a vibrant area full of contrasts and contradictions, which…

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Added by Pauline Rowson on December 13, 2010 at 9:09pm — No Comments

Research and Writing: It’s not just the facts after all

I’ve been writing in various genres for some time now, but only recently came to appreciate the link between research and inspiration. Yes, I know; it was probably always there, but I hadn’t really given it much thought until just a few years ago.…



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Added by Vincent O'Neil on October 7, 2010 at 4:30am — No Comments

The Stuff of LIfe

I get irritated by them: those things I have to do when I would rather be writing. Yesterday it was shopping for home improvement items. In the north woods, where we live, buying large ticket items means a one-hour drive to a town that has stores in it. Yes, I get to eat at the Chinese restaurant (we don't have one of those, either), but it is a wasted day...well, except for the new refrigerator, freezer, bathroom remodeling stuff and five t-shirts I found on sale in a rainbow of… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on August 25, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Inspiration or Perspiration?

It's time to choose the next book. My second Simon & Elizabeth (POISON, YOUR GRACE) and my paranormal, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, are both in the editing process, so there is nothing I can do about them until I get the editors' suggestions. My newest endeavor, which I titled DEAD INSIDE, is awaiting word from an agent or two. So what do I want to do next?

The perspiration part: write the third of the historical series. I have it outlined on my handy-dandy little tape recorder, and…

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Added by Peg Herring on July 13, 2010 at 10:27pm — No Comments

Whan that Aprille with her shoures sweete...

April in the D. April in Paris. Pieces of April.

Whatever your impressions of the month, it seems to inspire folks. My goal is to finish my WIP before Malice Domestic, which is at the end of April. Somehow, in springtime, all things seem possible.

Added by Peg Herring on April 12, 2010 at 10:46pm — No Comments

What a Rush!

I wrote last week about giving up on a story I was trying too hard on. It felt artificial and difficult. Yuck.



But that feeling of oh-my-god-I've-got-to-write-this-down is now in high gear. Boy, have I missed it. My Other Idea is obviously the one I should have been working on all summer, because it has all the signs of a winner: monopolizing my mind, keeping me way too long at the computer, and making my friends and family wonder why I'm so distracted and disinterested in real life… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on August 24, 2009 at 9:14pm — No Comments

Summer Chaos

I've been immersed in the Missouri Writing Project Advanced Institute this summer, and while it's sad to be so busy you don't blog or write about your experiences until after the fact, it's rejuvenating to feel the breath release knowing there's still weeks until school starts with endless days to create.



To surround myself with writers is like a buoy for me. It lifts me, allows me to tread and gawk at those around me with the gift to leave me in awe. These two weeks at the MWP have… Continue

Added by Barri L. Bumgarner on July 30, 2009 at 12:34pm — No Comments

Where Do You Go to Think? (R)

I have two places conducive to thinking, and they are as different as can be. First, I think in the car, preferably on a long trip and preferably alone. The automatic process of driving seems to calm my conscious mind and let the deeper thoughts arrange themselves into viable plots and possible characters. I particularly like the drive across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which is both beautiful and remote, allowing lots of time to work out plot knots. I carry a small recorder and talk to myself,… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on July 22, 2009 at 7:00am — 2 Comments

Born to Write

I spoke with a woman on the phone yesterday and got a now-familiar response. We were talking about real estate, but when I mentioned that I write, she said, "I've always wanted to write a book."



Yup. Another one. She went on to say that she's just too busy to get started on it, etc. etc.



I know she isn't lying. I know she'd really like to. But I can't help but think that if you really, really want to write, you'll write.



The last year I taught school, I also… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on May 14, 2009 at 10:35pm — 4 Comments

How Do You Focus on One Project?

If you're like me, you have at least six book ideas buzzing inside your head at any given moment. I read once that James Michener did all the research and outlining for IBERIA years before he ever got around to writing the book, and I know how that goes. It seems like there's never time to develop that clever idea that I wrote three chapters of one week, or start on the one that comes to mind when I'm driving long distances alone, or rework the one that isn't bad but could be improved now that… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on May 7, 2009 at 9:58pm — 2 Comments

If I Were an Agent, I'd Pick You

Eureka! I mentioned yesterday that I'm judging the initial round of a contest, and I'd read a couple of good samples and a couple of bad ones. Well, the last one I read was a winner, and if I were an agent, this person would get a contract ASAP.



What is it that set it apart from the others? There's the rub: I can't really say. There are books that hook me as a reader from page one, and this is one of them. The character is unique, the plot pulled me in, the writing style is neither… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on January 9, 2009 at 10:56pm — 1 Comment

Pros at Prose

I'm reading Michael Connelly and James Lee Burke (one upstairs, one downstairs). What do these guys have that makes them so good? Burke certainly has the descriptive prose down, with unique, well-crafted phrases that both describe and lead, so the story doesn't suffer while the author shows off his prose. Connelly's what I'd deem a page-turner; the reader wants to know what's going to happen next, so it's hard to put the book down and do something like, oh, I don't know, write a blog maybe.… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on January 5, 2009 at 9:30pm — 2 Comments

Choosing the Next Project

I've been stalled lately, and it's not all my fault. Publishing is as scary these days as everything else: will my publisher make it through the hard times? Will they slash their schedule to save money? If they do, will I be a slashee?



The uncertainty makes it difficult to decide what's next on my agenda. I should iron out the wrinkles in the sequel to Book One, but will anyone care three or four years from now when it's done with editing and all the et ceteras? I should work on the… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on December 10, 2008 at 10:24pm — No Comments

Required:10% Inspiration

I guess Edison said it, something like: "Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." That's true, but that dash of inspiration is SO necessary. I'm willing to work really hard on my writing, but there has to be a spark that makes me want to do so, make me feel, as one writer put it, that I am the only one who can tell the story.



One thing that helps is professional magazines. Over the last week, I got no less than four, and I set them aside, a little daunted at the task of… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on November 26, 2008 at 10:30pm — 2 Comments

Have You Got That Thing in Your Head?

My worst one is songs. If there's even a vague reference in conversation or on TV to something that is (or reminds me of) a song lyric, the words play in my head for hours afterward, even if I hate, hate, HATE the song itself. Please don't mention low places or Garth Brooks (my least favorite) starts singing to me. And please don't say anything about roller skates, spirits, or flowers in your hair, because certain sixties songs just dominate when you do. I don't even have to hear it aloud. I'm… Continue

Added by Peg Herring on June 25, 2008 at 10:09pm — No Comments

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