Alec Peche's Blog - Posts Tagged "jill-quint"
Where do ideas for murder mysteries come from?
I am presently writing a mystery series - 'the Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist series', and I often get asked where my ideas come from for book stories. You might be surprised by my writing process. I start with a location first. Yes, location. Picking a city, state, or country then allows my imagination to think of a reason for a murder mystery.
After a vacation in Belgium and the Netherlands, I knew I could reliably remember the cities of the region and the people. One of many memories of my vacation was visiting the diamond district of Antwerp, and the many chocolate stores in every city across both countries. How could I work diamonds and chocolate into a story? With a little creativity, I found my story line for CHOCOLATE DIAMONDS, my second book.
I have been to every location in all of my stories, except the Sandslide reef in my first book VIALS. I have been snorkeling in Puerto Rico, but not scuba diving. I've taken boats to snorkel reefs in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. I've snorkeled many reefs in Hawaii, so while I don't have a sense of scuba diving, I have had the joy of the colors of the underwater world.
My third book, A BRECK DEATH, is the result of over thirty years of skiing. I have always loved James Bond movies, and especially 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. In this movie, Bond skies off a cliff and a parachute opens made from the Union Jack. For a couple years after that movie, I would listen to the James Bond theme and the song for that movie - "Nobody does it better" on the drive to the slopes. It was fun to design a story around my favorite winter sport - skiing.
DEATH ON A GREEN, book four, of the series, will be release January 27, and is available for pre-order now. The story of a murder during a charity golf outing was a suggestion from my editor. I lived in Green Bay for a decade and played in that golf outing several times. It wasn't hard to turn that into a story.
Book five, my work in progress, A TAXING DEATH, is set in Sacramento, California. I have probably been to that city 20-30 times. While we have the resource of Google Earth, I think you have to have been to these places to be able to accurately describe them and the mannerisms of the people that inhabit those cities.
Book six, to be published in the summer of 2015, as yet unnamed, will be set in Dallas, Texas. I'm visiting that city next month. I plan to study people and the town to gain the material for my book. In this book, I have a friend who wanted to be a character in one of my books - she said it was on her 'bucket list'. One of her friends, suggested I "off" her as a speaker at a convention for nurses. I responded that I never kill my friends in my books. So I will 'off' a co-speaker on her panel. Now I just need to figure out who wanted this speaker dead.
Book seven, to be published in late 2015, also unnamed, will be set in the United Kingdom. I have visited the UK close to ten times and I have many readers from the part of the world. I thought a story based somewhere in the UK would be a nice tribute to both those readers and the fact that my heritage traces itself to Birmingham, England.
I have had been lucky in my travels and they continue to provide me with endless fodder for murder mysteries!
After a vacation in Belgium and the Netherlands, I knew I could reliably remember the cities of the region and the people. One of many memories of my vacation was visiting the diamond district of Antwerp, and the many chocolate stores in every city across both countries. How could I work diamonds and chocolate into a story? With a little creativity, I found my story line for CHOCOLATE DIAMONDS, my second book.
I have been to every location in all of my stories, except the Sandslide reef in my first book VIALS. I have been snorkeling in Puerto Rico, but not scuba diving. I've taken boats to snorkel reefs in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. I've snorkeled many reefs in Hawaii, so while I don't have a sense of scuba diving, I have had the joy of the colors of the underwater world.
My third book, A BRECK DEATH, is the result of over thirty years of skiing. I have always loved James Bond movies, and especially 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. In this movie, Bond skies off a cliff and a parachute opens made from the Union Jack. For a couple years after that movie, I would listen to the James Bond theme and the song for that movie - "Nobody does it better" on the drive to the slopes. It was fun to design a story around my favorite winter sport - skiing.
DEATH ON A GREEN, book four, of the series, will be release January 27, and is available for pre-order now. The story of a murder during a charity golf outing was a suggestion from my editor. I lived in Green Bay for a decade and played in that golf outing several times. It wasn't hard to turn that into a story.
Book five, my work in progress, A TAXING DEATH, is set in Sacramento, California. I have probably been to that city 20-30 times. While we have the resource of Google Earth, I think you have to have been to these places to be able to accurately describe them and the mannerisms of the people that inhabit those cities.
Book six, to be published in the summer of 2015, as yet unnamed, will be set in Dallas, Texas. I'm visiting that city next month. I plan to study people and the town to gain the material for my book. In this book, I have a friend who wanted to be a character in one of my books - she said it was on her 'bucket list'. One of her friends, suggested I "off" her as a speaker at a convention for nurses. I responded that I never kill my friends in my books. So I will 'off' a co-speaker on her panel. Now I just need to figure out who wanted this speaker dead.
Book seven, to be published in late 2015, also unnamed, will be set in the United Kingdom. I have visited the UK close to ten times and I have many readers from the part of the world. I thought a story based somewhere in the UK would be a nice tribute to both those readers and the fact that my heritage traces itself to Birmingham, England.
I have had been lucky in my travels and they continue to provide me with endless fodder for murder mysteries!
Art imitates life….or at least it does with book series characters…
I just finished the fourth Harry Potter book and I’m presently listening to the book #42 of the JD Robb In Death series - Brotherhood in Death and as a reader I’m very happy to see the revolving characters grow in each story. A good book series is like a friendship, as you know your friend for a longer period you know them better - they think and act as you expect them to. Predictability is not boring in a book series; rather it’s the hallmark of great writing. When you have fictional characters, how do you show more of each character’s personality in every story yet also keep the characters’ actions consistent and true. I think as both a reader and a writer, I look forward to learning how a master does that with a long running series.
In Harry Potter, Harry fought with his best friend Ron. Not fisticuffs, but rather it was a fight of emotions and that allowed the reader to learn more about Harry and Ron and in the end deepened their relationship. I haven’t finished book 42, but already Eve and Roarke fought over a sentimental piece of furniture from the first or second book in the series. As a reader I was at first offended by the fight as it seemed shallow and therefore out of character; but as the emotional fight continued, I understood it was entirely within character for these two to fight.
As I look at my own series and work on book seven - CASTLE KILLING, I find myself looking for ways to show more nuances of my repeating characters’ personalities. Certainly the four women that comprise the investigative team haven’t fought with each other like the teenagers of Harry Potter, or the married couple of the In Death series. Jill and Nathan have had a few minor clashes, but nothing explosive. I’m looking for ways in the storyline to show more of each character to the reader and so book seven will have a pivotal moment that exposes more of Angela, Jo, Marie, and Jill’s personality to the reader.
As a reader, I like book series. When I fail to finish a book, it’s because I don’t like the book’s characters or I don’t care what happens to them. This usually happens when I’m reading a new author for the first time. Whenever I write and look at my story’s progression, I ask myself, is there enough there for the reader to care about the women in my series? I hope so as it’s my duty as a writer to make my reader care about my characters.
In Harry Potter, Harry fought with his best friend Ron. Not fisticuffs, but rather it was a fight of emotions and that allowed the reader to learn more about Harry and Ron and in the end deepened their relationship. I haven’t finished book 42, but already Eve and Roarke fought over a sentimental piece of furniture from the first or second book in the series. As a reader I was at first offended by the fight as it seemed shallow and therefore out of character; but as the emotional fight continued, I understood it was entirely within character for these two to fight.
As I look at my own series and work on book seven - CASTLE KILLING, I find myself looking for ways to show more nuances of my repeating characters’ personalities. Certainly the four women that comprise the investigative team haven’t fought with each other like the teenagers of Harry Potter, or the married couple of the In Death series. Jill and Nathan have had a few minor clashes, but nothing explosive. I’m looking for ways in the storyline to show more of each character to the reader and so book seven will have a pivotal moment that exposes more of Angela, Jo, Marie, and Jill’s personality to the reader.
As a reader, I like book series. When I fail to finish a book, it’s because I don’t like the book’s characters or I don’t care what happens to them. This usually happens when I’m reading a new author for the first time. Whenever I write and look at my story’s progression, I ask myself, is there enough there for the reader to care about the women in my series? I hope so as it’s my duty as a writer to make my reader care about my characters.
Struggles with writing...
In December of 2015, I began the seventh book - CASTLE KILLING, in the Jill Quint, MD Forensic Pathologist series. I typed "The End" this morning, nineteen months later. Granted I also began a new series producing Red Rock Island and Willow Glen Heist, but I did it because my 'pantser' ways were not yielding the written word and I wondered if the first series had come to an end. It hasn't.
Last week I decided I would finish the book at the sixty-thousand word mark as I couldn't think of any exciting story threads to take it beyond that point to the usual eighty thousand word mystery.
Now the manuscript is with my first reader in an unusual form - first draft. I simply don't know whether to discard this story to my dud pile, and move on to the Jill Quint book number eight, set in NOLA.
I tried three writing exercises to see where to take the story next - I picked a random noun and tried using it to create plot. I don't remember what my word was, but it wasn't helpful. I tried jotting down scenes, but the mind was empty. I brainstormed what could happen to the story and characters but couldn't figure out how to tie it in to the story I had been telling. Most bestselling authors say there is no such thing as writer's block, and I agree. My block wasn't over writing in general, rather it was this specific story that refused to tickle my imagination.
I have an entire sheet of notes on where I want to go with my next story in the Jill Quint series. When I was in New Orleans last years, I specifically wandered around collecting ideas for a book to be set there and I'm ready to go.
The Damian Green series on the other hand is stalling out in my mind. Hermione will be starting school as a junior in high school, and Damian and Ariana's business and personal relationship will grow, but I haven't figured out the role of Hermione's parents yet so I can't start on that series.
CASTLE KILLING opens with Nick Brouwer being shoved off the clock tower at Cardiff Castle. No sooner did I kill him than my imagination shut down on the 'why' of his murder. There's a connection to WWII, but I had to link it back to Wales and Scotland which was no easy story telling feat as the Nazi's never occupied the United Kingdom. This was of many story line struggles with the story.
My next blog post in a week or two will announce which book is next - CASTLE KILLING or an as yet unnamed mystery story set in NOLA!
Last week I decided I would finish the book at the sixty-thousand word mark as I couldn't think of any exciting story threads to take it beyond that point to the usual eighty thousand word mystery.
Now the manuscript is with my first reader in an unusual form - first draft. I simply don't know whether to discard this story to my dud pile, and move on to the Jill Quint book number eight, set in NOLA.
I tried three writing exercises to see where to take the story next - I picked a random noun and tried using it to create plot. I don't remember what my word was, but it wasn't helpful. I tried jotting down scenes, but the mind was empty. I brainstormed what could happen to the story and characters but couldn't figure out how to tie it in to the story I had been telling. Most bestselling authors say there is no such thing as writer's block, and I agree. My block wasn't over writing in general, rather it was this specific story that refused to tickle my imagination.
I have an entire sheet of notes on where I want to go with my next story in the Jill Quint series. When I was in New Orleans last years, I specifically wandered around collecting ideas for a book to be set there and I'm ready to go.
The Damian Green series on the other hand is stalling out in my mind. Hermione will be starting school as a junior in high school, and Damian and Ariana's business and personal relationship will grow, but I haven't figured out the role of Hermione's parents yet so I can't start on that series.
CASTLE KILLING opens with Nick Brouwer being shoved off the clock tower at Cardiff Castle. No sooner did I kill him than my imagination shut down on the 'why' of his murder. There's a connection to WWII, but I had to link it back to Wales and Scotland which was no easy story telling feat as the Nazi's never occupied the United Kingdom. This was of many story line struggles with the story.
My next blog post in a week or two will announce which book is next - CASTLE KILLING or an as yet unnamed mystery story set in NOLA!
