Fiction writing is—mostly—thinking up stories, telling lies, and/or making up things. Along the way, one is constantly asking “what if”, when faced with the need to decide which way to take the story, before choosing one path. But, all novels must have something to spark their beginning, even if the original intent changes along the way. One draws on experience, current events, history, friends…anything, all of which can be twisted to fit any story. Writing fiction gives one the opportunity to express opinions through characters about morality, religion, politics, etc. One can put a different twist on history, since few people know the truth...if there ever was. People tend to be drawn to drama, which is easily created with boy-meets-girl or crime.
People have asked what inspired my novels, so I will provide the story of each. Having put this into writing, I will not have to repeat myself, but merely point people to this page. The first novel I finished (Sister Sisteron) is not the first one I started (Flying’s Easy), but I will do this in order of publication.
Sister Sisteron
We had rented a house in Ste. Maxime, across the bay from St. Topez. I would sit by the pool and watch the yachts come and go or drop anchor offshore.
At some point, I read an article in a Sunday newspaper supplement about a wealthy family trying to extricate their daughter from a cult somewhere in France. That was the spark: I imagined a wealthy young woman with one of the yachts I spotted and started asking “what if”…which ended up in a novel of intrigue and love spanning three continents.
To prove how random—and easy—fiction writing can be: I found the family name of the female lead on a jar of pickles in a super market outside St. Tropez. The male lead was easier: I used the name of a girl I knew in elementary school, who I haven’t seen since then.
Don’t Fight Fate
I had had dealings in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. My company was forced to build retail outlets in a country starved of consumer goods. I met many Russians at all levels of society, got a peek behind the scenes at how some lived, learned the intricacies of surviving in the murky business world, enjoyed having KGB babysitters, and was able to fly out in comfort.
Putting gas in my car late one night, I thought about how easy it would be for someone to take my car. Combining a trip on an autobahn with moving money out of Russia in a time when banks did not function, I came up with a story of intrigue and love.
The title was Fate Happens until just before publication, when Justin Bieber came out with a music video by that name. I was forced to change it, because I did not want anyone to think that I had plagiarised.
Taken For A Ride
The chairman of my company’s supervisory board was a former finance minister of Germany and former head of a major bank. He would arrive for meetings with 5 bodyguards, because a few bankers had been murdered by terrorists in the past. One day, I was at a hotel in Basel, when I spotted the current head of the German Federal Bank, surely near the top of the list of targets. I watched him check out, leave the hotel, and stroll alone up the street towards the train station. Anyone wishing, would have had an easy time to murder…or kidnap him. What if?
Righteous Revenge
At the time when the world was being lied to by politicians (some things never change), the US was destroying one country and inciting chaos in the Middle East, and the government was breaking all international conventions which had made the world seem sane, one figure stood out as being suspiciously evil. What if the disgruntled figures wanting change were not some deranged loner, but people in places of power? Since the people thought as being the “good guys” were bad, what if the good guys were bad. I wrote this long before Scandal aired on television.
Flying’s Easy
My first attempt at writing a novel was to relate my experience in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. Because the resulting short draft—hardly worth being labeled a novel—was worthless, I put this aside for many years and wrote other stories. Although my experiences influence bits of the story, I realised that I needed to make up most of what happened and craft it with intrigue, crime, and romance.
Hell Is Other People
This is the second book I started, but the last to finish. At the time, I was traveling the world and spending a lot of time in first class seats. Despite what one saw in movies, I never spotted a woman attractive enough to incite a fanasy.
One day, I was having lunch in the restaurant of the aviation museum at a table overlooking Santa Monica airfield. I watched a private jet arrive and the passengers disembark, one of which looked rather attractive. I was struck by the thought of why I had seen none on commercial flights: attractive women fly charter.
At the same time, I noticed advertising in Los Angeles for a concert of the “Five Divas”. I had heard of four, but not the name of Shania Twain. I looked for her records at Tower Records, but could find none. When I asked, I was pointed to the Country section, which I had failed to consider, and told that she was the leading artist. I had never heard her name.
Those two things sparked the trip down “what if” lane…
Nobody Knows Nothin'
Many years ago, I traveled the world. Time zone changes made sleep difficult. I would lie awake in some hotel room and think up stories to keep from thinking about work. I was visiting London, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong frequently in the 1990s. I also made several trips to Thailand. One time in Hong Kong, I read about some actress in a divorce battle with her husband. I thought about a boy-meets girl story based in Hong Kong. Because that seemed boring, I needed to move them around the world. Missed connections seemed to be a good way to add some tension. Like with all fiction, one makes up lies and asks "what if" over and over...until you get to the end of the story,
Gilda
I read where I girl I had known in school had become a brain surgeon. I was impressed, because I thought that she had dropped out and joined a commune of hippies. My mother wanted to become a doctor, but the Depression and World War II derailed her dream. I had just read an article about Gilda Radner, so the unusual name stuck in my head. I stirred these unlikely ingredients with a pinch of fantasy and came up with a boy-meets-girl story with an unlikely pair.
People have asked what inspired my novels, so I will provide the story of each. Having put this into writing, I will not have to repeat myself, but merely point people to this page. The first novel I finished (Sister Sisteron) is not the first one I started (Flying’s Easy), but I will do this in order of publication.
Sister Sisteron
We had rented a house in Ste. Maxime, across the bay from St. Topez. I would sit by the pool and watch the yachts come and go or drop anchor offshore.
At some point, I read an article in a Sunday newspaper supplement about a wealthy family trying to extricate their daughter from a cult somewhere in France. That was the spark: I imagined a wealthy young woman with one of the yachts I spotted and started asking “what if”…which ended up in a novel of intrigue and love spanning three continents.
To prove how random—and easy—fiction writing can be: I found the family name of the female lead on a jar of pickles in a super market outside St. Tropez. The male lead was easier: I used the name of a girl I knew in elementary school, who I haven’t seen since then.
Don’t Fight Fate
I had had dealings in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. My company was forced to build retail outlets in a country starved of consumer goods. I met many Russians at all levels of society, got a peek behind the scenes at how some lived, learned the intricacies of surviving in the murky business world, enjoyed having KGB babysitters, and was able to fly out in comfort.
Putting gas in my car late one night, I thought about how easy it would be for someone to take my car. Combining a trip on an autobahn with moving money out of Russia in a time when banks did not function, I came up with a story of intrigue and love.
The title was Fate Happens until just before publication, when Justin Bieber came out with a music video by that name. I was forced to change it, because I did not want anyone to think that I had plagiarised.
Taken For A Ride
The chairman of my company’s supervisory board was a former finance minister of Germany and former head of a major bank. He would arrive for meetings with 5 bodyguards, because a few bankers had been murdered by terrorists in the past. One day, I was at a hotel in Basel, when I spotted the current head of the German Federal Bank, surely near the top of the list of targets. I watched him check out, leave the hotel, and stroll alone up the street towards the train station. Anyone wishing, would have had an easy time to murder…or kidnap him. What if?
Righteous Revenge
At the time when the world was being lied to by politicians (some things never change), the US was destroying one country and inciting chaos in the Middle East, and the government was breaking all international conventions which had made the world seem sane, one figure stood out as being suspiciously evil. What if the disgruntled figures wanting change were not some deranged loner, but people in places of power? Since the people thought as being the “good guys” were bad, what if the good guys were bad. I wrote this long before Scandal aired on television.
Flying’s Easy
My first attempt at writing a novel was to relate my experience in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. Because the resulting short draft—hardly worth being labeled a novel—was worthless, I put this aside for many years and wrote other stories. Although my experiences influence bits of the story, I realised that I needed to make up most of what happened and craft it with intrigue, crime, and romance.
Hell Is Other People
This is the second book I started, but the last to finish. At the time, I was traveling the world and spending a lot of time in first class seats. Despite what one saw in movies, I never spotted a woman attractive enough to incite a fanasy.
One day, I was having lunch in the restaurant of the aviation museum at a table overlooking Santa Monica airfield. I watched a private jet arrive and the passengers disembark, one of which looked rather attractive. I was struck by the thought of why I had seen none on commercial flights: attractive women fly charter.
At the same time, I noticed advertising in Los Angeles for a concert of the “Five Divas”. I had heard of four, but not the name of Shania Twain. I looked for her records at Tower Records, but could find none. When I asked, I was pointed to the Country section, which I had failed to consider, and told that she was the leading artist. I had never heard her name.
Those two things sparked the trip down “what if” lane…
Nobody Knows Nothin'
Many years ago, I traveled the world. Time zone changes made sleep difficult. I would lie awake in some hotel room and think up stories to keep from thinking about work. I was visiting London, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong frequently in the 1990s. I also made several trips to Thailand. One time in Hong Kong, I read about some actress in a divorce battle with her husband. I thought about a boy-meets girl story based in Hong Kong. Because that seemed boring, I needed to move them around the world. Missed connections seemed to be a good way to add some tension. Like with all fiction, one makes up lies and asks "what if" over and over...until you get to the end of the story,
Gilda
I read where I girl I had known in school had become a brain surgeon. I was impressed, because I thought that she had dropped out and joined a commune of hippies. My mother wanted to become a doctor, but the Depression and World War II derailed her dream. I had just read an article about Gilda Radner, so the unusual name stuck in my head. I stirred these unlikely ingredients with a pinch of fantasy and came up with a boy-meets-girl story with an unlikely pair.