What comes first? Characters? Plot? A snippet of dialogue?

The inspiration for every book I’ve written has come to me differently. Sometimes it’s a character. The heroine in Dryden’s Bride was such a one. She was Sîan Tudor, the sister of Owen Tudor (the Welshman who married the widowed Queen Katherine and fathered Henry VII). She was completely fictional, but her connection to Tudor added a lot to the plot. I made her a poor relation who had no prospects, but I gave her spirit and a lot of temerity …

Sometimes, it’s a historical situation or question that inspires me. A few years ago, I saw a History Channel program on a holy cloth called The Mandylion. It was said to be the piece of linen used to wipe the face of Jesus as he carried his cross. According to legend, it was hidden away in Bysantium until the city was sacked by Crusaders, and then the Templars got hold of it and hid it. Some historians believe the Mandylion was actually the Shroud of Turin, others say it’s a completely different thing. After a good bit more research, I decided to go with the second school of thought, and wrote two books about it. And I added paranormal elements to them. They’re Scoundrel’s Daughter and its prequel, The Virtuous Knight. In the first, the American hero (an Indiana Jones-type) drags the very proper, Victorian heroine all over the UK looking for the Mandylion that her crooked father has stolen. In the second, a knight returns from the holy land with the Mandylion and has to find a safe place to hide it from charlatans. Each of the heroines has a physical disability and when they come into contact with the Mandylion …

My first book The Bride of Windermere started out with my interest in King Henry IV. In this book, I gave him an illegitimate daughter who was sent off to live with her mother and step-father. After she’s all grown up and Henry IV is dead, her half-brother (Henry V) learns of her existence and realizes she will be in danger if any of his enemies learn of her. He sends his most powerful, trusted knight to take her to safety, unaware that the knight has a huge secret of his own.

Sometimes an idea strikes that just won’t go away. For example: What if a young woman had the ability to make things happen by magic, but every time she did it, something unexpected occurred along with the magic that was intended. In my Victorian novel, Not Quite a Lady, the heroine has this ability, but she can’t really use her power very much. If she uses her power to make a loaf of bread appear, lightning might strike the house. Or a tree might fall across the road and hurt someone. In spite of that, she uses her power to increase business at her country inn. She makes “ghosts” appear at the inn, and they cause quiet a furor. Enter the scientist hero who is sent to disprove these strange happenings …

My next books for Avon are based on a premise. I wanted to create a world of sorcerers and magic, and have them interact with plain humans. This required a lot of brainstorming … Exactly who are these people and what are their powers? Why would they want anything to do with humans? What sort of heritage do they have? How will they react to humans when they’ve been away from them for centuries?

I think I’ll save these answers for my next blog …