The Subconscious Writer

By Allison Brennan

At RT one year, I sat on a panel with other thriller writers. One fellow author was shocked that I don’t plot. He was even more surprised when I told him that I didn’t know what was going to happen in the book I was writing at the time.

Thriller writers tend to be plot driven and for most of them, not having a roadmap—at least of the basic plot points—can be paralyzing. But thriller and mystery writers aren’t the only people out there who can be anal plotters. Take the fabulous Suzanne Brockmann, who writes romantic suspense. 

I took an online class from her in December of 2003 about writing connected stories (as opposed to a series.) I had just sent out THE PREY to agents, including several who were reading the full manuscript, and I was very excited because I’d never had so many request the complete with my first four manuscripts.

I was stunned when she shared with the class that she was a plotter. Not only a plotter, but an uber-plotter—she had 100 page outlines before she even started writing the book! She admitted that it takes her longer to outline the book than it does to write it. She had color-coded notebooks, multi-book character arcs and subplots, and all these were clearly labeled.

I thought to myself, “If this is what it takes to get published, I’ll never be published.”

If I was told I had to write a detailed outline before someone would buy a book, I would very likely stop writing for publication. I’d rather write the entire book first, then create an outline. 

I do not know where my story is going when I start. I do not know where it is going to end. I know who the hero and heroine are. (Most of the time—twice I’ve been wrong.) I know the basic crime. I don’t always know why, I don’t usually know the villain or if I do, I don’t know why. I don’t know who’s going to live to the last page or who is going to die. Well, except for the hero and heroine because I write romantic suspense and they kind of have to survive, or it wouldn’t be romantic suspense.

Getting to the end is half the fun of writing. Finding out what happens is thrilling. If I knew the ending, I wouldn’t write the book. It’s enough to know that my hero and heroine are going to live, and the bad guy is going to get what’s coming to him.

To quote Stephen King. “Why be such a control freak? The story is going to end up somewhere.”

This isn’t to say that all thriller or mystery writers are plotters or all romance writers are organic storytellers. It’s just that I think aspiring thriller writers think they need to have a structure and detailed outline before they write because of the complexity of most thriller plots.

I’m here to tell you that no, you don’t have to.

You CAN if you want to. I’m not going to tell anyone NOT to plot their story just like I’m not going to tell anyone they HAVE to write organically. Our brains are wired differently and one thing I learned early on is that no one can tell anyone else the best way FOR THEM to write a story.

I have a workshop I’ve presented a few times called “No Plotters Allowed: Solutions to Writer’s Block for Those Who Can’t, Won’t or Don’t Plot.”

I’m thinking of renaming the subtitle of the workshop to “The Subconscious Writer.”

I’m deep into writing currently untitled Lucy Kincaid #1. Friday night I was stuck. I had everything set up and I started writing what I thought was the next scene, but it just wasn’t working. Something felt off to me. (Organic writers tend to “feel” problems in the story. I know, it’s sounds all wishy-washy and stupid, but it is what it is. And I really hate the word “pantzer.”) I put the book aside and started working on a title. My title had been rejected (NO WAY OUT) and I didn’t like what my editor  came up with, then I submitted another title, which they liked but didn’t feel was right, so it’s back to the drawing board. (Aside: Lucy #1 is coming out in January of 2011, and Lucy #2 is coming out in March 2011. Lucy #2 has a title—we think. It’s not approved yet. So I was trying to match the rhythm of that title.) I scoured my thesaurus and bookshelves, pulling out words that have some relation to the story.

Betrayal. Bait. Stop. Tempt. Lose. Lure. Love. Murder. Kill. Dying. Death. Trap. Shoot. Ruin. Entrap. Chase. Thrill. See. Touch. Watch. Predator. Web. Seduce. Snare. Break. Fear. Retribution. Stalk.

That’s about 10% of my list of words. Then I moved to phrases, which may or may not be title-esque. Cry Me a River. Dying Breath. Taking the Heat. Don’t Look Back. No Time to Run. No Way Out. Edge of Danger. Web of Lies. Over Her Dead Body.

Again, that’s just a small fraction of what I had written on seven sheets of notebook paper.

Then I went to bed.

Saturday morning I woke up with not only a title (actually, four good titles that all have the same basic foundation) but I’d solved my story problem!

When I was stuck Friday night, as I often do I skimmed what I had already written. This is bad for me because I usually start editing as I go and that takes time, and often sends my story in new directions. (At least when you’re on a tight deadline, it’s bad.) But since I’d already edited the beginning of this book to death, it was tight and I wasn’t doing major editing, just small tweaks here and there. So when I went to bed, I had the whole story in my head, as well as a couple hundred words and phrases swimming around.

I realized when I woke up that I had the solution already written in the book. I didn’t have to fix anything, it was already there. It was as if my subconscious had the story down even when I didn’t know it.

I thought Character A was watching Lucy out of a sense of paternal protection, and even though he’s a bad guy, he didn’t want to hurt her. He was more worried about her.

It’s not Character A at all! I realized that in two specific places in the story before the midpoint, Lucy had the distinct impression of being watched. But she has a fear of being watched, and knows this about herself, and thus has learned to dismiss the sensations because they happen whenever she’s in public.

My husband thinks I’m very strange. I told him that I was excited because the guy I thought was watching Lucy really isn’t, it’s this other guy who I didn’t even know about but he’s been there all along! Seriously, I had two scenes where he was there and I didn’t even know. When I re-read them this morning, it was so damn obvious you’d think that I’d planned it out. Dan said, “But these are your characters. You’re the writer, you tell them what to do.”

Um, no. When I start telling my characters what to do, they put on the brakes.

My editor is sometimes amused with me, I think. I always do a round of revisions. Always. Even if the book is pretty tight, I always go through it with editorial notes. Virtually every book I’ve written has a completely different ending than the first manuscript. My editor likes this because she feels like she’s reading a completely new story. Most people think I’m insane because I essentially write every book twice. But I don’t see how I can do it any other way. I’ve tried. It doesn’t work for me.

Yesterday, Alex commented about fast writers and swore at me (in her loving, kind and non-judgmental way, of course!) I’m not a fast writer. I’m a subconscious writer. I’m writing 24/7, just not always at my computer. I run through dialogue in the car (when I’m alone—thank God for hands free phones because people think I’m talking to someone else and not myself!) I play the what if game. I think about my characters and how they would react to different situations. When I’m sitting down actually writing, I write fast, but the physical writing is only a small part of the writing process.

In a way, I suppose this is plotting. (Shiver.) But 99% of the time I don’t write down that verbal dialogue I played with. I don’t use a plot point that came to my head playing what if? I don’t put my characters in situations where I know what they’ll do—or, they’ll do something completely different because of a factor I hadn’t considered.

Every writer I’ve talked to has lamented their process. I tend to freak out near deadline when I don’t know what’s going to happen. I write frantically, excited to finally know how it’s going to turn out, and hoping I don’t get stuck. I usually know who the bad guy is, but sometimes even I’m surprised.

And that, for me, is half the fun of writing.

Over at Murder She Writes on Thursday, I posted a short story I wrote called "Ghostly Vengeance" that was printed in a the Walmart "Book of the Month" selection printing of ORIGINAL SIN. I finally got permission to post it on my website (it'll be up at Seven Deadly Sins Books later this week, but I wanted to give my blog readers an early preview.) Hope you enjoy it!

And no, I didn't plot it out or know what was going to happen. In fact, when they asked me to write a short story with the ORIGINAL SIN main characters, my editor asked what I'd write. I said, "How about a ghost story?" 

Then I wrote it.

In the Beginning . . .

By Allison Brennan

ADDED 5:13 pm Sunday: Oh! Toni has a winner from last week! Elisabeth (commenter #9). Yeah! Please email Toni at toni [dot] causey [at] gmail.com and give her your preferred email address and whether you want an Amazon or a BN or Borders gift certificate. Toni will then email the gift certificate directly to you!

Now back to the regularly scheduled blog . . . 

I start writing a new book tomorrow. I would start today, but I'm revising the final two chapters of my current book one last time. It's crucial to make sure the ending is not only satisfying, but that all the loose ends are tied up, and those that are continuing threads are at least neatly identified. Writing a series is HARD WORK--I didn't realize how hard until now.

But whatever difficulty I have in ending a book, it's nothing like the beginning of a book. And the most important question for me now is:

WHERE DOES THE STORY START?

Because this is a series, and this book takes place about two weeks after the book I just finished (well, I THINK two weeks, I'm not quite sure because I haven't started it yet), the story really started two books ago. Of course, readers don't want a boring recap of what happened in the first 900 pages of this saga. 

For CARNAL SIN, I started with another vision for my heroine, prompting a tense conversation between characters where I could both advance the story and give the reader the minimum information she needs to understand the story. But since my heroine is not in town at the beginning of MORTAL SIN, I can't do that again--and it would be kinda boring to do the same thing.

LAW & ORDER is brilliant in how they enter a scene "late"--meaning, after the action or in the middle of action. Elliot and Liv go in asking questions. No lengthy set-up. Dead body? Rape victim? We see part of the set-up (prologue) and then jump into the middle of the investigation. We don't see them being called, or stopping for donuts, or having a conversation about how they spent the night before. BORING. Sure, it might go to character, but we can get that information in context, not in the beginning.

I love starting books with a dead body. A standard opening in mysteries--a crime to be solved. I've done it in many of my books:

SPEAK NO EVIL:

Her death had not been easy.

Homicide detective Carina Kincaid stared at the dead, naked corpse of the young woman, avoiding the wide-eyed terror etched on her face. her mouth was gagged, but what drew Carina's eye was the word slut scrawled in thick black marker across her chest. A small red rose was tattooed on her left breast.

SUDDEN DEATH:

The homeless man's murder had been ritualistic, brutal, and efficient.

THE PREY:

Rowan Smith learned about Doreen Rodriguez's murder from the reporters camped out in her front yard Monday morning.

Because in MORTAL SIN, one of my main characters is suspected of murder, I thought--why not start with finding the body? Not let the reader know--through reading the scene--whether he's innocent or guilty. When I get into his head, the reader will know (he's a reliable narrator) but initially, there are doubts. And, perhaps, he'll know more about the death than he lets on to the other characters--

But still, I don't know for sure that this is the best place to start, hence my preoccupation with beginnings today.

So I pulled out some books from my TBR pile and read the first paragraph of two, just for fun. Now for a little game: read the openings and tell me which book you would most like to read. (And if you know the book, don't let on! I'll post the titles in the comments at the end of today.)

A

At the mass of the dead, the priest placed the wafer of unleavened bread and the cheap red wine on the linen corporal draping the altar. Both paten and chalice were silver. They had been gifts from the man inside the flower-blanketed coffin resting at the foot of the two worn steps that separated priest from congregation.

B

"You have a whisker."

Though I hear the loudly whispered comment, it doesn't quite register, as I am rapt with adoration, staring at the wonder that is my hour-old niece. Her face still glows red from the effort of being born, her dark blue eyes are as wide and calm as a tortoise's. I probably shouldn't tell my sister that her baby reminds me of a reptile. Well. The baby is astonishingly beautiful. Miraculous.

C

Every eye in the newsroom followed me as I left Kramer's office and walked back to my pod. The long looks made it a long walk. The pink slips always came out on Fridays and they all knew I had just gotten the word. Except they weren't called pink slips anymore. Now it was an RIF form--as in Reduction in Force.

They all felt the slightest tingle of relief that it hadn't been them and the slightest tingle of anxiety because they still knew that no one was safe. Any one of them could be called in next.

D

I've always wondered what people felt in the final few hours of their lives. Did they know something terrible was about to occur? Sense imminent tragedy, hold their loved ones close? Or is it one of those things that simply happens? The mother of four, tucking her kids into bed, worrying about the morning car pool, the laundry she still hasn't done, and the funny noise the furnace is making again, only to catch an eerie creak coming from down the hall. Or the teenage girl, dreaming about her Saturday shopping date with her BFF, only to open her eyes and discover she's no longer alone in her room. or the father, bolting awake, thinking, "What the fuck?" right before the hammer catches him between the eyes.

E

Cops aren't supposed to get frightened. The badge and the uniform and the gun strapped to a cop's side are intended to ward off the normal fears that most people experience when confronted by unspeakable horror and evil.

But it doesn't always work out that way. Cops get scared, just like everyone else. Sometimes they get so scared, they run for their lives. Other times, they get shaken to the core and never forget the things they've seen. It happened to me, two years into the job.

F

On January first, Mac rolled over to smack her alarm clock, and ended up facedown on the floor of her studio.

"Shit. Happy New Year."

She lay, groggy and baffled, until she remembered she'd never made it upstairs into bed--and the alarm was from her computer, set to wake her at noon.

Okay, those are the six pleasure books on the top of my TBR pile--meaning, I'd looked through them on Friday to pick something to read for the weekend, and those interested me the most, but then one thing led to another and I didn't have time to start anything new. If those six books were at the top of your TBR pile, which would you read first? Remember, don't spoil the fun and give away the author!

And as a little teeny reminder . . . ORIGINAL SIN went on sale this week. It's a supernatural thriller--a little different than what I've been writing, but I had a lot of fun writing something new! So to celebrate . . . I'm giving one copy away to a random commenter. Just tell me your favorite beginning (above) or just say hi! 

Who dat?

by Toni McGee Causey

edited to add:

NFC CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!

WHO DAT, BABY, WHO DAT!!!

WHO DAT SAY DEY GON BEAT DEM SAINTS?

HUH? WHO DAT? WHO DAT?

I have a lot of great friends and fans in Minnesota. But today, there's this lil ol' football game where our beloved   

are going to take on the no good, no 'count, wretched, terrible honorable Vikings, [a team I would otherwise cheer for], a team with that guy who keeps coming out of retirement (he keeps saying that word, I do not think it means what he thinks it means...). 

Meanwhile, those of us here in the  

are gonna pray (and probably do a little voodoo) that Farve has a really off night and Brees, aka Breesus, as in

well... we just hope that Brees keeps on keeping on 'til the Saints come marching on into a victory.

We've been Saints fans since way back before they were called the 'aints, and let me tell you, it was hard, some years, admitting to fandom for a football team who routinely seemed to shoot themselves in the foot whenever they got anywhere close to a winning season. There's nothing quite like having an amazing winning season--especially for a city so hard hit like New Orleans, who really needed the economic and morale boost like this season has given it. Mostly, it's just really nice to see perpetual underdogs finally have their year.

It's a great story.

And I'm going to be glued to the TV, nervous and excited and probably yelling like a damn fool.

If I had any actual working brain cells left, I'd make some sort of parallel to the story arc of an underdog season to that of a good novel, or a parallel to shitty first drafts and crappy seasons, then editing and drafting the right players, and then the final polish and a Superbowl, but really, I just moved my entire house's contents back into place in three days and then hosted a party for 62 people over here today (because we are crazy, we don't have a better excuse) and in the middle of all of that, wrote a bunch on the new book that I am freaking loving (which is scary the bejesus out of me). So I'm going to yell at the TV, envy the hell out of friends of mine who have seats inside one of the suites in the Superdome, and, hopefully, be singing Who Dat? all damned night long.

So how about you? Do you root for a team? Any sports you love? Or if not sports, what inspires your fandom? 

I'm holding a contest--all commenters for today's blog through midnight (central US time) Monday night are eligible to win a $25 gift certificate to celebrate Allison's newest release: ORIGINAL SIN. (Go check it out--it's a supernatural thriller.) I just saw an amazing review for it, which should be up soon, and I'll link as soon as I see it go live.

Short Stories

By Allison Brennan

I just finished a 4,000 word short story that's going in a special edition of ORIGINAL SIN that will be exclusively at Walmart, and then later I'll give it away free on my website (sometime before CARNAL SIN comes out at the end of June.) This is the fourth short story I've written (fifth if we count my 38,000 word novella). I've learned a lot about short stories since, but mostly I learned that they are damn hard to write.

Short is not my strong point. When I was in high school American History, I had a fabulous teacher (Dwight Perkins) who gave me an "A-" on my final essay because I, "so eloquently said in 10 pages what could easily have been said in 5."

Why did I ever think I could write a short story? I didn't even consider writing short stories when I started writing-I wanted to write a book. I meaty, 100,000 word novel. But in Stephen King's ON WRITING, he lamented the death of the short story and what a wonderful medium it was. And I reflected how much I enjoyed reading short stories, from when I was a little kid through adulthood. To this day, some of my favorite stories are short stories. "A Sound of Thunder" and "He Built a Crooked House" by Ray Bradbury; "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson; "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allen Poe; "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut; "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain; "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" and "Quitters, Inc" by Stephen King. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, what I can think about off the top of my head, the ones I think of from time to time when a theme or image from the story plays out in my life. If I took the time to cull through my shelves I would likely find a dozen or more short stories that I could call a favorite.

So when I was asked to write a short story in KILLER YEAR edited by Lee Child, I jumped at the chance (not to mention that it was being edited by Lee Child. I mean, I'm not an idiot. Most of the time.)

"Killing Justice" in KILLER YEAR was 5,800 words (over my allotted limit, but since my "mentee" Gregg Olson came way under his word count, JT was kind enough to let me keep my words.) Kind? Well, maybe not, because that story could have been better if I knew more about short stories. 

Don't get me wrong, I still love the story. It takes place in the California State Capitol and takes what I know about politics and deals and legislation and puts them in a very short story about a subject I care deeply about: child predators. But the structure of the story was like a novel-multiple viewpoints and multiple scenes. This doesn't work well when you have less than 6,000 words.

My second short story was "A Capitol Obsession" in TWO OF THE DEADLIEST edited by Elizabeth George. Yep, you guessed it, I took a setting I was intimately familiar with (the Capitol) thinking that would be easier to write the story. I had more words to play with-7-9K (my story ended up just over 10K. Remember Mr. Perkins!) But I had learned from my first short, so I focused on one crime, primarily one setting, and only two viewpoints (a female state senator and a homicide detective who were on the "off" swing of an on-again/off-again relationship.) I started with a dead body (a lobbyist) to get immediately into the story (on the fantastic advice of Ms. George who commented that my first draft didn't really begin until the second scene . . . so I cut the first scene during revisions.) I had my cop and my senator working parallel investigations. It was fun. In hindsight, I would have cut one scene (where my cop goes to the victim's employers and apartment to gather information about her) simply because though the information was important, I could have probably incorporated it in such a way so I never had to show my characters outside of the Capitol.

Next came a story that hasn't come out yet that will (hopefully) be in the HWA anthology. It's tentatively titled "Her Lucky Day" and is a supernatural "light" horror story. I put it aside for a couple weeks and will edit it one more time. One POV and two settings AND I came in under my allotted word count of 4,000! Woo hoo! (A little bit of trivia: I originally wrote the scene as the prologue for CARNAL SIN, but it didn't fit the tone or the direction that the book ended up going, so I cut it . . . but I really liked it, so I reworked it and gave it a conclusion.)

The given criteria for my short story in the back of ORIGINAL SIN was that I had to use major characters from the book in the story. As I thought about it, I realized that I also couldn't have anything majorly pivotal to the series happen in the story because it's "bonus content." So no blowing up buildings in my fictional town that I'll be visiting again, or killing off a major character, or anything that changes the goals or motivations of my main characters. I considered a lot of different ideas, but ended up with the same problem: too big. Just thinking about the ideas, I could see the bigger story behind it. That was my problem with "Killing Justice"--there was a much bigger story I tried to tell that didn't fit well in the short word count.

When I was driving back from my trainer on Thursday (amazing, I often think of murder and mayhem after working out . . . ) the idea just popped into my head: a ghost story. Well, not just popped because I'd been mulling this issue over and over for days. But the story goal, the set-up, the setting, the conflict, it was all there bam!

It was perfect for me on multiple levels. First, the series is about demons and witches, not ghosts-but I'd set up in the book that ghosts exist and could cause problems for my characters. So if I wrote about a ghost, I wasn't messing with my major antagonists-they could safely remain in hiding. Second, I had a perfect setting for the story where something tragic happened during the course of the book. Third, I had a plausible story conflict that didn't mess with my series characters primary conflicts-I could use them more as catalysts rather than being considerably changed by the event. And the one character who is truly affected had already discussed her conflict about the situation in the book, so it's believable for the story as well as if I use the issue in the future. (Sorry for being so vague, but I don't want to give anything away.) And finally, I had a "villain" (the ghost) and who had a strong motivation for his "crime."

Believe me, I was totally excited about this. I started writing. I set up my sheriff going to the scene and why . . . and my heroine and hero going to the scene and why . . . over 1000 words before they even got to the main conflict.

Argh! Seven pages and . . . they all had to go. Sure, I tried to convince myself that they didn't have to be deleted. I told myself that those 1,000 words were really the first act of the story and they did end in a mini-climax/hook. Yes, we delude ourselves when we don't want to delete something. They weren't bad pages-in fact, even the first draft was pretty tight and to the point. But I had to remind myself that this was a short story. I didn't have to painstakingly set the scene. I didn't have to SHOW why the sheriff went to the scene; I didn't have to SHOW my heroine's growing worry and sense of foreboding when she couldn't reach her friend (the sheriff.) Yes, in a full-length book such scenes are necessary at times especially leading up to the final confrontation. But for a 5,000 word story? No.

I realized I could SHOW my heroine's fear as they arrive at the scene and find all the streetlights broken, adding to her growing apprehension; be with her and the hero when they see two cars parked in the back, one being a stranger; listen as they hear a scream and gunshots as they're about to break into the building. All that in less than two double-spaced pages. It sets the tone and the scene and the primary goal (save the sheriff) without the longer, meatier lead-in. Why the sheriff is there de facto comes out as the scene unfolds.

I also made the choice to keep the entire story in my heroine's POV. Believe me, this was tough because I LOVE multiple POVs. But it kept the story tighter and more focused and, therefore, the word count down.

Easy? Hell no! As hard as writing a book. Sure, a 100,000 word novel-or in the case of ORIGINAL SIN 125K-takes far more time, concentration and revising, but no individual scene was harder than the short story.

Every short story I've written has taught me lessons about writing that I couldn't have learned in class. I was thinking about this after reading about Pari's absolutely incredible experience with her in-depth writer's program. I was itching to do something like that as well, to learn more about how to write, the different types of writing I can do, how to really dig deep and challenge myself.

And maybe, some day, I will do something like that.

But in the end, the key lessons I took away from Pari's post was that they wrote every day. They practiced. They challenged themselves by doing--not just thinking about writing, not just talking about writing, but writing.

The short story is hard for me, but the only way I can learn to do it well is to do it. I was as giddy typing THE END on the short as I was typing it on my last book.

I'm hoping that with the multiple anthologies of novellas and short stories coming out these past few years and in the future that there'll be a resurgence of sorts in short fiction. What do you think?

Readers, do you like reading short stories? Novellas? Or prefer to stick only with full-length novels? What is a short story you've recently read that stands out, or one you read years ago that you still think about?

Writers, do you like reading and/or writing short stories? Putting the time factor aside, is it easier or harder than a book? Some of your favorites?

But That's MY Idea!

By Allison Brennan

What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun. Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

I had one of those "Damn! That's MY idea!" moments tonight.

Six years ago, I came up with the initial spark of my Seven Deadly Sins idea. I started the book in August of 2003, but shortly thereafter, THE PREY (which was then titled THE COPYCAT KILLER) finaled in an RWA chapter contest. I hadn't finished the book, so thinking I had a great shot at getting an editor to read me, I put aside the book I was then calling THE COVEN and finished THE PREY.

While the editor ranked me second in the contest, she said that the chapters she'd read (50 pages) were great, but not something she'd acquire. Emboldened, and sensing that this book was IT, I terminated the relationship with my then-agent, cleaned up the manuscript, and queried 12 top agents. I sold THE PREY, and in hindsight I'm glad I didn't focus on the Seven Deadly Sins series , because I didn't have the skill to pull it off the way I wanted.

But the book haunted me.

I sold the series in 2008, and the first book--now called ORIGINAL SIN--will be on sale 1.26.10. I finished the revisions Friday night and sent them off to my editor. The book goes into production on Monday. I am alternately excited about this book and scared to death: it's a pure supernatural thriller and unlike anything I've written. It's exactly the way I wanted to write it . . . and I am forever indebted to my editor for helping pull the meat of the story from the mess of my first draft, showing me the potential, and giving me the palette back to paint the story my own way.

But because I've been thinking about this story a long time--and even had 150 pages written (none of which made it to the final draft)--I began to get frustrated when I saw themes and ideas I had show up in other books and media.

Now, I'm not the first person on the planet to come up with the idea to write a series based on the seven deadly sins. Lawrence Sanders had a whole series on the theme; Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman starred in the fabulous and terrifying movie SEVEN; and stories about lust, greed, pride and the rest have been created from the dawn of storytelling. 

I did think that my story was a different take on an old theme. The Seven Deadly Sins as demons on earth. I have always loved the supernatural, classic supernatural stories. New paranormal trends don't interest me. I can't wrap my head around the idea of a vampire who is good. TWILIGHT is a huge hit--yeah Stephanie Meyer--but really, where are the animal rights people when you need them? Seriously, if I ever wrote a vampire book, vampires would be portrayed as the evil bloodsuckers they are. Demons? They're not heroes. They want your soul, as painfully as possible. So I was kind of out-of-step with what was selling. But honestly, my idea was not blazing any new paths--but rediscovering favorite roads

While the story was cooking in my head, a television show started called SUPERNATURAL. I love it.

But dammit, some of their ideas are MY ideas.

No, I don't think Eric Kripke can read my mind, but for awhile I was worried. For example, long after I wrote my initial proposal, and three years after I wrote my first 150 pages, Season 3 began with the episode "The Magnificent Seven." Yep, the Seven Deadly Sins as demons.

See. Me. Bang. Head. I almost abandoned my idea. Then I realized that it was one episode and they didn't explore a fraction of the subject matter. It wasn't a continuing theme.

But then last night, when we watched the recorded Season 5 premiere, we learn that the only way for an angel to enter your body (a "vessel") is if you invite it.

See. Me. Bang. Head. Again.

There are no angels in my book--no easy solutions (though in SUPERNATURAL they are handling the demons and angels thing brilliantly, IMO.) If there's around, it's just to give signs, but not consciously written. It's up to free will human beings to discern what the signs mean, and to stop the Seven from causing (more) problems on earth.

But I do have a "rule" in my world that to be a vessel (and yes, I used "vessel" as well!) you have to willingly agree. (The "vessels" are not for possession by angels--or demons--but essentially human sacrifices through which the demons are brought forth or contained.

I think I swore at the televisions. My book is DONE. 

I have over 40 books about witchcraft, the occult, exorcisms, prayer, spiritual warfare, angels, and major religions. So much of what is in SUPERNATURAL comes from history or mythology--which is also where I'm basing my world "rules."  So it's natural that we're going to come up with similar ideas. 

I've heard unpublished authors say that they dumped an idea because another popular author wrote a similar idea in THEIR book. Well, hello people. There's nothing new under the sun. It's all been done before. Get over it. Write the book.

I guarantee it'll be different from anyone.

I'd bet if I gave the same story idea to the 13 other Murderati members, that they'd all write a completely different book. And each one would be damn good and stand on its own.

I've heard unpublished authors give up on ideas because television or the movies recently had something similar. Hello! Capitalize on the interest. BTW, it'll take a couple years before your book hits the shelves and by that time the subject matter could be hot. 

Recently, an unpublished writer asked on a writing loop if she should copyright her unpublished book before she submitted it to agents, because they might steal her idea and give it to one of their authors to write. Um, why would they do that? Agents are not looking to take ideas from unpublished authors. They have plenty of good submissions to sort through. They WANT to sell books, and they WANT more than one client. Amy Berkower doesn't just represent Nora Roberts--she has other clients. And really, like I need someone else's idea? Believe me, I have plenty of my own. Not all of them good, not all of them sellable, but plenty.

It's not just this current series that had me knotted up. A movie called UNTOUCHABLE about a guy who kills people on-line that came out three months before my book FEAR NO EVIL that had a girl kidnapped and the bad guy was charging people to watch--and they could pay and vote on how she dies. My book was already in production before the movie was released. Episodes of both SUPERNATURAL and CRIMINAL MINDS had people hunting other people for sport. So did my book THE HUNT--which came out long before either show--it again highlighted that there are many common themes, even similar ideas. And what about that movie (the name escapes me) about the rape victim who turns around and kills the men who raped her? She hunt them down. Stories connect us because they come from our common foundation as human beings and that MOST of us have the same basic fears, the same basic desires, the same basic internal struggles as everyone else. So that many of us have stories that stem from the same core idea is not surprising; that we all write completely different stories is a testament to our individuality.

So have you ever had an idea and it seemed that you saw it everyplace after that? Have you noticed that there seem to be cycles of a bunch of similar movies/books/themes all coming out together? Am I the only one who has noticed that sometimes, blogs all cover the same general subject matter?