My Guest this week is a seasoned writer with some practical tips for the aspiring. Ladies and Gentlemen...
Dianne Harman
So You Want to Write a Book!
People often tell me they want to write a book, but they don’t know what they’d write about. They want to know where I get the ideas for my books. How do I make them happen?
Believe me, the subject matter is all around you. What about that flower that’s growing up between the bricks you just walked on? Fantasy – did a large bird drop the seed while on a special mission from the king of birds to save the mouse from the trap the mean ogre set in his yard?
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What about your crazy great-uncle who still talks about taking notes at a business meeting and then having several of the firm’s partners jump out of the office window when Wall Street crashed on Black Tuesday in 1929? Weave a story around that – maybe the before and after of the families of the partners or even how it affected him.
What about the young woman you saw at the supermarket this morning? She had a baby anchored on her hip and a tot in the child seat of the grocery cart. Normal enough, but what was that in her basket? A case of beer? So, who’s she buying it for? Her husband? Her lover? Herself? Seriously? At eight in the morning? Yeah, there’s definitely a story there.
And so it goes. Almost everything in every moment of every day can be woven into a story. Recently a friend came over for a glass of wine after work. She told me how she and her husband were disagreeing over something and he’d made the comment, “You’re a piece of work, but I guess you’re my piece of work.” Although it wasn’t the basis for a book, it could have been, but it’s now in a conversation that takes place in one of my soon-to-be published books.
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My husband and I were recently invited to Cuba by a fishing guide my husband has fished with for years. Since Cuba was getting ready to open up to direct travel from Americans, the guide was anxious to see if he could be one of the Americans allowed to be a fishing guide in Cuba. We went to Cayo Largo, an island off the coast of Cuba.
The first day we were there the guide’s contact invited my husband and several of the guide’s guests to their fishing office on the island. I went with them and saw a door brightly painted with three kinds of fish on it. I asked our guide’s contact what that represented. He told me if a guest caught a tarpon, a bonefish, and a permit, all in the same day, the person was entitled to be member of the Grand Slam Club. That became the basis for 'Murder in Cuba' – egos and money intent on being the number one guide and the power of the Grand Slam Club.
A recent book of mine, 'Murdered by Words', is very loosely based on memories of going to college at a small Midwest school and the people who lived in the small town. The protagonist, Kat Denham, is widowed and makes career choices that lead to her editors’s death and fear for her own life. One thing just led to another, but what really prompted it was remembering how important the country club was to people in that small town. It became a focal point of the book.
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'Murdered by Country Music' came about simply because I was at a physical therapist’s office having a little work done on my lower back. While I was being treated, I overheard a conversation between a couple of the therapists regarding two music festivals that were going to be taking place near Palm Springs, California, in a few months. They were talking about mollies, Fireball whiskey, and just being part of the experience. I’d heard of the festivals, but had no idea what mollies and Fireball whiskey were. Thus began my education into the world of music festivals. We don’t live too far from Palm Springs, so my husband and I went there for the weekend to see if I could get a sense of the music festivals. That was the seed of the book. Although it’s a complete figment of my imagination, it came about because of the conversation I’d overheard.
So what’s the purpose of telling you about these books and things that are noticed? Ideas for books are everywhere. They’re in almost every conversation you hear, everything you experience, and everything you see. It’s up to you to give them life. In the words of the advertiser Nike,
Just Do It! Write that book!
Bio:
Dianne lives in Huntington Beach, California, with her husband, Tom, and her boxer dog, Kelly. When she's not writing, you can find her cooking or playing in the yard with Kelly.
She's the author of four cozy mystery series, Cedar Bay, Liz Lucas, High Desert, and Midwest, as well as the suspense series, Coyote. If you'd like to sample her books, please go to www.dianneharman.com and get free books.
When not finding interesting ways to murder people, Dianne can be located here:
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Dianne-Harman/e/B009PP9DCC/
Website: http://www.DianneHarman.com
Twitter: @DianneDHarman
Thank you, Dianne, for that great advice. Come on people, this practical post is definitely one to bookmark!
Eric @ www.ericjgates.com
