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. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.
Today’s guest is Annie Sullivan, author of Tiger Queen, a YA-retelling of The Lady or the Tiger features secrets, suitors, thieves, and a fierce princess.
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’ve had ideas come to me in dreams and in things I’ve overheard strangers talking about, but for Tiger Queen, the idea was inspired when I was in 7th grade and reading the short story called “The Lady, or The Tiger.” It’s an infamous short story because it has a cliffhanger ending. As a child, I was incensed that there wasn’t an ending. So I decided to create one for it, and the story just developed from there.
Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?
Even though I had a short story as a base, my version truly only uses bits and pieces from the original. And the story is extremely short, so I really had to delve deep to develop it. First, I focused on my characters. I like strong female characters, so I developed a hardcore heroine who could not only survive the harsh desert landscape I placed her in, but who could vie for the throne because of her abilities with a sword. From there, the story took on a life of it’s own as I added more characters to the world and discovered their motivations for either helping my main character reach the throne or for wanting to stop her.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
For better or for worse, I don’t plot out stories beforehand. I don’t know where we’re going until the character arrives there. That way, I’m as excited about what’s going to happen as the reader. I do usually know the ending, but I’m usually pretty firm on how those play out since it’s what I’m aiming for as I write the novel.
Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?
I have so many ideas that I’ll never be able to write them all! I get ideas from watching movies or reading other book. I find inspiration in unique fairytales or creatures I read about as a child. There are ideas everywhere!
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
It’s more deciding what am I excited to write about and what do I think would work well in the current YA market. I have to pick the one story just won’t leave me alone.
I have 5 cats (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 think I would never get anything done because I’d be too busy petting my dog. So I generally write alone—with no food even (because my keyboard would be a mess!). I might have a cup of tea, a warm blanket, and a carefully selected song playing though!
