Origins

Okay. Since this blog is largely dedicated to Mystery Falls, my first published novel, I thought I might take this opportunity to explain it's origins.

As any author who writes fiction may tell you, ideas for a storyline can come from almost anywhere - taking a walk in the park, remembering the vivid details of a dream, observing the interaction between a young couple in love, are just a few of the ways in which a thought might be inspired, and then shaped and transformed into a story. A story where imaginary characters come to life, and the setting in which they are placed, seems almost believable.

So, did the idea for Mystery Falls stem from a walk in the park, a dream, witnessing first love? No. Not quite. Prone to waking up well before my alarm sounds, and unable to return to sleep, I often take this time to allow my mind to wander freely. To let my thoughts take their own direction. It was during one of these quiet and undisturbed moments, when the initial concept of Mystery Falls came to me.

Particularly fond of pine forests and waterfalls, I had immediately placed Samantha, the protagonist in my developing story, beside a running stream. Then, deciding that there needed to be an element of danger, a need for her to be rescued by a mysterious stranger, I added a bear. Equally passionate about vampires, angels and werewolves, it was hard to choose which fantasy creature to base Samantha's saviour on. However, after trialing each one in the scenario I had created, it quickly became obvious that the angel suited Shadow's character best.

For the next few days, my thoughts were consumed with ideas of how the story might develop, how the two characters would interact. Finally, with a rough plan in my head, I sat down at my computer and began to type. And so, Mystery Falls was born.


'Mystery Falls',  'Samantha', 'Shadow' - in my next blog, I'll explain where these names came from, and why I chose them.