When I tell people who inspired the idea for What Goes on Tour I usually get a certain look – you know the one where people screw up their face as if to say, ‘Really?’
He’s not one who would usually come to mind if you consider traditional romance heroes. Who is he? Marilyn Manson.
Okay so maybe I should explain. I was watching one of those music video shows on TV and Marilyn Manson came on. He’s so distinctive with his dark hair, dark black lipstick, dark eyeliner and pale skin. It’s quite a fascinating combination and really sets a certain image in your mind. My immediate thought was what if he was the complete opposite of that image? Now, I know nothing about what Marilyn Manson is like as a person, nor did I try to find out anything about him. This first what if thought spiraled away from that image and got me thinking other what ifs. What if the persona was just a front, just a way of facing the world? What if in actual fact the person (I was now thinking in terms of my new character) was your typical boy next door, the type of person who would go out of his way to help a grandmother across the road? Or digging a little deeper, what if he actually hated being in the public eye but loved singing? At the end of this what if session, I had my hero, Adrian Hart.
So that was the inspiration for my latest novel, What Goes on Tour, but I’ve had inspiration for other novels from all sorts of places.
I get a lot of ideas from my dreams. I’m one of those people who dreams vividly and can remember them when I wake up. I keep a notebook and pen on my bedside table so that no matter what time I wake up I can reach over and jot down notes. Sometimes it will be pages where I try to get down the story I’ve dreamed and other times it’s just a character or a setting. My husband has become used to me turning on the light in the middle of the night to capture my ideas. J
Documentaries are also a good source for ideas. I got the whole plot for one of my fantasy novels from watching a documentary about the Great Wall of China. It was just a small snippet from the one hour show, but it generated a whole novel.
To capture all these ideas I have an ideas notebook. I used to write them in a paper notebook but I was a little paranoid about losing it so I now use Microsoft OneNote. It’s a program which usually comes with Microsoft Office and I love it. You can create sections (or tabs) and then have pages in each section. I have tabs for my romance ideas as well as my fantasy, paranormal and young adult ones. I also have tabs for settings and characters. Then each idea has its own page. Sometimes it’s as little as a job title or a two line description and other times its pages of plot.
My current work-in-progress came from a setting. It’s a coastal holiday town, set over the four day Easter weekend. As a child I used to go down there with a group of family friends and the story grew from that.
I believe inspiration is everywhere and I have a mouse pad next to my computer with the words, “I’m a writer. Anything you say or do may be used in a story.” For me, that’s the truth.
A Little About Claire Boston
Claire Boston was a voracious reader as a child, devouring anything by Enid Blyton as well as series such as Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Baby-sitters Club and Sweet Valley High. Then one school holidays when she’d run out of books to read her mother handed her ‘Hot Ice’ by Nora Roberts and Claire instantly fell in love with romance novels.
The love of reading soon turned to a love of writing and she struggled to keep within the 1500 word limit set by her teachers for her creative writing assignments. When she finally decided to become serious about her stories she joined Romance Writers of Australia, found her wonderful critique group and hasn’t looked back.
When Claire’s not reading or writing she can be found in the garden attempting to grow vegetables, or racing around a vintage motocross track. If she can convince anyone to play with her, she also enjoys cards and board games.
Claire lives in Western Australia, just south of Perth with her husband, who loves even her most annoying quirks, and her two grubby, but adorable Australian bulldogs.
Where to find Claire:
Claire, what a fascinating look behind the scenes of your writing life. It was interesting to hear how Adrian Hart evolved as the hero of What Goes on Tour. The way you use OneNote has inspired me to try it after many years of jotting down my ideas on scrap paper and in notebooks.
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