Evolution

One of the most asked questions I get in this game is where do I come up with the names and stories for so many books? My performance side always replies I need to get the crazy from my head before I go insane. Slightly true, but nothing terminal of course. I find inspiration in the strangest things. One story- no I won’t tell you which- formed around seeing the lighting effects of a small street light in my old neighborhood bathed in snow. Another came from running around one of Saddam Hussein’s bombed out palaces in Baghdad for a year in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the man before he was hung. (I never got to see him but a kick ass book was born from those nightly runs).

My favorites series to write, The Forgotten Gods Tales, was born from a song by a band I barely remember: The Kentucky Headhunters. The song Dumas Walker stuck in my head, rattled around for a few years. Ok, maybe not the whole song but the chorus line of “let’s all go… down to Dumas Walker”.

Dumas Walker evolved into Mobus Kale. Ok. I had a name. Who was he? Hero? Villain? I didn’t know but I wanted to find out. He eventually morphed into a terrible human being cast in the midst of burgeoning galaxy wide civil war and a key figure in the storyline.

The whole point is, my fellow authors and amateur writers, is to never discount inspiration where it strikes. You never know what that will evolve into. See you in the pages!

Don’t forget to spread the word that my sci-fi noir The Lazarus Men is available for preorder until 1 April. Grab your copy today.