Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview.
Today’s guest for the WHAT is Sarah Adlakha, author of Midnight on the Marne which is set during the heroism and heartbreak of World War I and in an occupied France in an alternative timeline.
Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?
Midnight on the Marne wouldn’t exist if one of the main characters, George Mountcastle, hadn’t found his way into my debut, She Wouldn’t Change a Thing. In She Wouldn’t Change a Thing, George appears in one of the late chapters as a ninety-four-year-old WWI veteran who’d experienced a phenomenon similar to my main character (repeating certain parts of his life) when he fought in the Second Battle of the Marne during WWI. He turned out to be a crowd favorite, and I couldn’t wait to tell his story.
Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?
I knew the basic premise of George’s story, and since it had already been laid out in my first book, I didn’t have the liberty of changing it too much during the writing process. I also knew that I needed a strong female lead to balance the story being told from a male’s point of view, so I created Marcelle – a French nurse working on the front lines who also doubles as a spy for British intelligence. The story sort of morphed into Marcelle’s as the plot was more firmly established, but I think I found a nice balance between the two.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
I’m a plotter through and through, so my overall plots don’t seem to change much throughout the drafting and editing process – unless of course my editor points out significant concerns. I spend a lot of time with my characters in my mind before I write their stories, so their actions – or the way they’ll respond to various situations - are pretty well established before they’re put through anything. That’s not to say things don’t change during drafting and editing, but when I have a completed novel in my hands and look back at the original outline and chapter summary, there typically aren’t drastic changes.
Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?
My mind is always going, always creating stories. When I was in college, my friends would tease me about the stories I created about random people we might pass in the mall or at dinner. It was never anything malicious, but more a made-up character study – like something you might do in a creative writing class. For example, if a mom walked by in a hurry with her young son, I might create a scenario where she was a single mom who was supposed to be heading to a job interview when her son awoke with a fever. She couldn’t take him to school or daycare, but she didn’t have anyone to watch him – and she couldn’t miss the interview – so she had to call her son’s dad who worked at the mall but was rarely involved in his life. And then that would be the launch point into the plot where a hostage situation at the mall would ensue and she would learn of it while she was in the middle of her interview. Now that I’m an adult with a job and a writing career and a family to care for I’m often forced to rein in my imagination to get things done, but I certainly don’t have a difficult time coming up with material.
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
I let the characters decide for me. I prefer to read – and write – character driven novels. So, while I might have a fantastic story idea, if I can’t seem to cast the right characters in my mind, I know there will be something missing when I put it on paper. I also run my ideas by my agent before I start anything new. She’s heard quite a few, and she’s typically very supportive of my plans, but she’s also very keen and realistic about trends and movements in the market, and she knows where my strengths lie.
I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?
My six-year-old dog and my seven-year-old daughter are almost always by my side. It doesn’t make for the most conducive writing environment, but that’s what my life is right now, and I certainly am not wishing it away. When I’m drafting and editing, I need complete silence and no interruptions, so most of my hard-core writing gets done after everyone is asleep at night. My pup stays by my side day and night, but he’s not much of a bother – just when I’m having a late-night snack. When it’s time to head to bed, I usually have to wake him up, but then in the morning I let him sleep in while the rest of us drag ourselves out of bed and start all over.
Sarah Adlakha is a native of Chicago who now lives along the Mississippi Gulf Coast with her husband, three daughters, two horses, and one dog. She started writing fiction shortly after retiring from her psychiatry practice. Her debut novel, She Wouldn’t Change a Thing, was a CNN most anticipated book of 2021. Midnight on the Marne is her second novel.