Real Life Incidents Might Sneak into Your Book

Thanks to Rhobin this group has another interesting topic to discuss. Has an event in your life, or that of someone you know, or one covered in the news ever worked its way into one of your stories? I can’t wait to see what the other authors have to say.

As for me, yes, events have worked their way into my books. Usually they’re small events and sometimes it’s something I do specifically for research in a book. For example, when we were on a Caribbean cruise I decided to write “A Cruise to Remember.” I made notes about the ports we stopped at, the stores and taxis around the port, and some of the events on board. I also visited the ship’s infirmary and asked for a tour so I’d know what the medical resources were like. All of that was used in the book. Maybe that’s more like research, but I didn’t decide to write the book until we took that first cruise.

When I was writing Hunted, I stayed at The Empress hotel in Victoria, BC. for a writing workshop. It’s a very old hotel, beautiful inside and a major, expensive tourist attraction. Wandering through the hotel and I looked down into the lobby from the mezzanine and I suddenly visualized my h/h there and went back and wrote the hotel lobby and mezzanine in the first scene of the book.

Dog walkers were becoming more popular so I got an idea for a plot and made my heroine a dog walker who walked in on a murder in an early book. I’ve had people that I met or worked with that I have used in stories, usually as villains or unlikeable characters.  

And there are other incidents that I remember in my life that will be included in future books. Now to check out what other authors have to say on the topic. Please check out the following authors.

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1Dm
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.wordpress.com
Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com