Inspiration

What inspires a novel? For me, it’s very straightforward. My first novel, Eternal Knight, was inspired by a movie series I wish I could love more, as well as a book series that really frustrated me. I guess, in a way, you could call it negative inspiration. I saw something I wanted to like, but didn’t, so instead of complaining about it, I’d make it my own. 

The movie series was Star Wars — I’m talking about the original three movies here. What was my complaint? Luke Skywalker should have gone to the dark side. He was immature, impulsive, emotional, and never finished his training. He was a perfect Sith candidate. If Luke turns into a bad guy, who then should have been the hero? Princess Leia. Cool, competent, controlled Leia. She would have been a great Jedi. Many will disagree with me, and that’s fine. I’m not here to debate Star Wars.

I’m here to talk about inspiration. Star Wars inspired me to write a book about a hero who turns into a villain—a chosen one who can’t resist the call of the dark side. Yes, I'm familiar with Anakin and his story, but I began writing Eternal Knight in 1986, thirteen years before The Phantom Menace was released. I’m telling you what inspired me to write at the time.

The second inspiration came from a very well-known fantasy series. I’m not going to name it, as I’m not big on dumping on another writer’s work, so I’ll leave it at that. But in this series, the protagonists eventually become so powerful that all sense of jeopardy is lost. It was very clear that the author loved their characters so much that nothing awful was ever going to happen to them. 

So there was the second part of my inspiration. I’d write a book that would beat up its heroes and create a genuine sense of jeopardy. A book where no one was truly safe. Those initial inspiring ideas spawned a five-novel series called The Orb, as well as a sixth book set in the same world. 

On December 5th, I’ll release my latest novel, Gift of Shadow. It departs from my other books in many ways. Gift of Shadow is a grimdark fantasy novel, set in its own world, and is unconnected to The Orb. Gift, the protagonist, was inspired by a character I created for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. She was a Shadow Sorceress with an origin story I loved, but then our Dungeon Master told us he was running a nautical campaign. I switched to a Storm Sorceress instead. 

The thing is, I couldn’t get Gift out of my head. She had such a cool backstory that the more I thought about her, the more I realized that her story needed to be told. So, instead of telling it around a D&D table, I’d do it in a novel instead. 

We draw inspiration from all around us—art, movies, television, books, people, travel, nature, and more. And, as Mark Twain said, “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations.” Take your inspiration from the world around you and make it your own.