India Holton on the Inspiration for The Secret Service of Tea and Treason

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 India Holton, author of The Secret Service of Tea and Treason, the story of two rival spies who must brave pirates, witches, and fake matrimony to save the Queen.

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?

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason originated with the character of Daniel Bixby, who was the hero’s butler in The League of Gentlewomen Witches. I hadn’t intended him to be anything more than a bit player, but then he walked into a scene with his deadpan attitude and his sexy glasses, and I was instantly smitten. Plus the gossip network of servants to which he belonged intrigued me, if you’ll pardon the pun. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

This is the most fun part of the writing process! When I have a concept, I first create a blurb for it, which is just a few lines capturing the heart of what I want to tell. If it’s impactful, I know I’m onto something. Then I write a synopsis of the plot. I work on this for quite a while, layering in hooks and character arcs until I have a comprehensive overview of the story that still gives me breathing space while writing. This approach helps me see very quickly if a plot is engaging and will hold its momentum.

Another thing I find helpful is to have a few scenes vividly in mind so I’m sure my imagination as well as my intellect are up to the job. Ironically, the scene that I used as a foundation for Tea and Treason’s plot ended up being just one line in the book!

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Always! This is why I use the synopsis method rather than a detailed plan. It’s like having a blueprint of a house and then being free to decorate each room, maybe even take down a wall or two. For example, the main characters in Tea and Treason, true to their rule-obeying nature, tried to follow the synopsis nicely, but the side characters went off on tangents, created unexpected twists, and generally had a field day with my ideas.    

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

They used to come thick and fast, but these days they’ve slowed right down, probably because I’ve developed a better sense of what ideas will work as a novel. This is a relief, because having a wealth of stories you can’t wait to write is less fun than it sounds! 

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I look at my body of work thus far and what I want to do with my brand going forward. I consider the market and consult with my agent. Then I make a rational decision wild guess based on that. 

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?

I’m not able to have pets in my current home so unfortunately am catless for the first time in my life, which is a sore trial to me. Writing goes so much more easily when you have a purring ball of fluff curled up on your lap. On the other hand, I recently puppy-sat for a couple of weeks and barely got any work done. Puppies and writing are not a productive mix! 

National bestselling author India Holton lives in New Zealand, where she grew up running barefoot around islands, wandering forests, and messing about in boats. She writes historical fantasy romcoms featuring unconventional women and charming rogues. Both her books have been Indie bestsellers, Amazon Editors Picks, and featured on several Best Of lists. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels was a New York Times Notable Book of 2021. India's writing is fuelled by tea and thunderstorms.

Charles Salzberg on What I Was Thinking If I Had Been Thinking

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 Charles Salzberg, author of Man on the Run, which releases on April 18

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?

I do. Three years ago, I wrote a novel called Second Story Man, about a master burglar, Francis Hoyt, and the two lawmen, a recently retired Connecticut State investigator and a recently suspended Cuban-American Miami cop, who aim to bring him to justice. Without giving too much of a spoiler, at the end of the novel Hoyt “walks away” from any consequences which essential turns him into a fugitive. I had no intention of ever writing another novel with Hoyt in it and, in fact, my next novel, Canary in the Coal Mine, had nothing to do with Hoyt or breaking and entering. When I finished Canary, I was looking for my next novel, but the more I thought about it the more I began to wonder what would happen to a guy like Hoyt when he’s on the run? He'd have to abandon the East Coast, where he was arrested, but where would he go and what would he do. The question haunted me until I finally figured out that by writing my next novel about him, I could answer that question. Hence, the inspiration for Man on the Run came from Second Story Man.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I’m one of those writers who never outlines his books. In fact, not only do I not know what’s going to happen in the next chapter, I don’t even know what’s going to happen in the next paragraph. So, I usually start with the what if question. First, I decided where he’d wind up: the West Coast. The rest of the plot came directly from the pandemic. Not writing about the pandemic, or even mentioning it, but rather relating to what I did during the lock-down, which was listen to dozens and dozens of true crime podcasts. Finally, it got to the point where I decided that one of my main characters would be a female former journalist who has a true crime podcast. And then, what if that podcaster happened to be doing a series on master burglar Francis Hoyt? And what if Hoyt found out about it? What would he do? And at the same time, what if Hoyt was approached by someone to pull a job—a big one? And so, with those elements of the story, I was able to weave a plot, as I wrote.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

That sounds like a bit of a nightmare and no, that’s never happened to me—probably because I don’t have the whole story when I start. But I have had characters “run away from me.” By that I mean the characters begin to take on a life of their own and they refuse to do or say something I might want them to. When it gets to that point, if it gets to that point, it’s a good thing because it means I’ve created real, flesh and blood characters with a mind of their own. I stop manipulating them and they start manipulating themselves.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I’m not really very much of a “story” guy. I usually start with a character of a situation and then, if I have something to say about it, the plot will start to develop. So, I’d have to say that story ideas don’t come to me too often, but thank goodness characters do.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

It’s more like the story choosing me rather than me choosing the story. I can sometimes decide I want to write something on a certain subject—like writing a novel that takes place in the world or rare books, or Hollywood movies, or even based on stories people have told me. For instance, in one of the classes I teach I had a student named Julia Scully, who led a fascinating life—mostly in the world of photography. Her life story was so amazing that I asked her if I could use part of it for the Swann novel I was working on, and she said yes. By the way, she’s 94 now (she lives across the street from me) and I highly recommend her amazing memoir, Outside Passage, about growing up in Alaska during the Depression.

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?

Unless you count my alter-ego, who’s usually too lazy to sit with me in front of the computer, I work alone. Which is probably a good thing, since I get distracted very easily and will jump at any opportunity not to write.

After a successful career as a magazine journalist for New York Magazine, Esquire, GQ, Redbook, New York Times etc., book reviewer, nonfiction book writer, Charles Salzberg made a move to fulfilling that dream of becoming a novelist when his first novel, Swann’s Last Song, was published and wound up being nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel. After losing, he swore he’d keep writing crime novels until he won something. After four more novels in the Henry Swann series, he wrote two successful stand-alone novels, Devil in the Hole (named one of the best crime novels of 2013 by Suspense Magazine) and Second Story Man (nominated for another Shamus and a David Award, both of which, true to form, he lost). He finally broke the losing streak when Second Story Man was named winner of the Beverly Hills Book Award. He’s also published three novellas, to be found in the collections Triple Shot, Three Strikes and Third Degree. He teaches writing in New York City, is a Founding Member of New York Writers Workshop, and is on the boards of PrisonWrites and Mystery Writers of America-NY.

Eleanor Lerman on Writing a Love Letter to NYC + Its People

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 Eleanor Lerman, author of The Game Café: Stories of New York City in Covid Time — nine stories of people who live in New York City—or are traveling there—in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

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?

In the height of the covid pandemic, when the television news continually featured stories about “the death” of New York City because people were fleeing, the hospitals were overrun, the business districts were deserted and no one would ever return to offices, etc., etc., I became incensed at the idea that anyone could think New York City was ever going to become a ghost town. To begin with, as a lifelong New Yorker and the daughter of a factory worker, the argument seemed to me to stem from an elitist view of urban life—the people “fleeing” were actually those who had a choice to do so because they had the wealth to own a second home in the suburbs or to simply buy another home in an area where the pandemic was having less of a devastating impact. So, the stories in my collection, The Game Café: Stories of New York City in Covid Time were born from my outrage at the notion that a city built by immigrants, fueled by the work and ingenuity of a diverse population, offering community to people across the gender spectrum, and that provides opportunity to anyone willing to take on the challenges of urban life could be brought down by the coronavirus. Each story in the collection focuses on the lives of different individuals coping with the pandemic in their own way and each, in their own way, is going to find a way not only to live through this dark time but come out on the other side with a new understanding of how deeply integral their relationship to the life of the city is to their own individual life story.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

There are nine short stories in the collection and each is built around the same concept: how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the life of a particular individual. Some of the characters have lost their jobs, one is living in Los Angeles and decides to drive home to New York, others reassess their relationship to a sibling or an adult child, and some are suffering from long-term illnesses (not Covid-related), but the decisions they make and the experiences they have all stem from how the pandemic is impacting their lives.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

This is almost always the case, whether I am writing a short story or a novel. Once a character begins to take on substance and develop a voice, he or she usually helps to move the story along in a direction I had not necessarily anticipated. That’s fine because I begin any story with knowing how it will end and as long as I’m moving towards that ending, letting the characters change the plot as we move along is actually helpful. What I have learned about my work is that I trust myself as a writer so no matter how the story changes, I can adapt.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I have been telling myself all kinds of stories in my mind since I was a child so there is always something brewing, 

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating? 

It would be unusual for me to find myself in that situation. I am very disciplined about my work, meaning that I don’t wait for inspiration (whatever that means) but rather, sit down at my computer every day intent on working. The stream-of-consciousness thing that goes on in my mind all the time just pushes one idea forward from that long, rolling river of ideas and that becomes the one I focus on.

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 office is an old purple couch and I sit on one end with a laptop. For over twenty years, there has been one or another small dog snoozing away on the other end. The day after my previous, much-loved dog passed away, I sat down on the couch, opened the laptop, looked over at the empty spot on the other side of the cushions and knew I couldn’t go on unless I had a new assistant. Two days later, I did. She’s a little white dog and her name is SuzyQ. And now, my work proceeds just fine.

Eleanor Lerman is the author of numerous award-winning collections of poetry, short stories and novels. She is a National Book Award finalist, the recipient of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts for poetry and the New York Foundation for the Arts for fiction. She has also received the John W. Campbell Award for the Best Book of Science Fiction. Her most recent novel, Watkins Glen (Mayapple Press, 2021), received an Independent Press award, among others. Find her online at eleanorlerman.com and on Facebook (facebook.com/eleanor.lerman).