Lots of different things inspire book ideas or help build characters. Sometimes things stick in your mind and you know there’s a story there, but it might take a long time to uncover.
A very long time ago, when I was a kid, I went on a trip with my family and we stopped at a very unusual museum. It was privately owned by a man who had been a world traveler. It contained many items he’d collected from different places, in particular Africa.
Though I was very young at the time, the museum stuck in my mind and it’s something I’ve never forgotten. In a way, through the art, costumes and jewelry in the museum I got to experience cultures I’d never seen before. Everything about the place fascinated me, though some things disturbed me (for instance I’m not much for taxidermy). The museum and its owner had so many real-life stories, but over the years I couldn’t help thinking that a similar place would make an interesting setting for a piece of fiction.
It’s been over thirty years since I visited the museum and I believe it no longer exists, except in memory. When I was planning Malika’s character, she was very adamant about certain things and told me in no uncertain terms that she would not have an ordinary job in an ordinary place. What better setting for a headstrong, intelligent woman who loved history than a private museum she could fill with exhibits that interested her? The setting also gave Arias the perfect opportunity to make the kind of entrance that fit a man who is a bit of a drama king.
Have you ever been someplace and just know that beneath the reality there’s a fictional story waiting to be told?
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