Where in the Heck?

Jo Robertson is back here at Over Coffee with her latest exciting thriller, The Avenger. I haven’t had the chance, yet, to read this one but based on her debut novel, The Watchers, you can bet I’ll be ordering it post haste.

It’s stories like this that makes a person wonder where the writers get their ideas. In fact, I think this is one of the most frequently asked questions received by authors.

Jo talks about her inspiration for The Avenger. 

An author's greatest fear is that one day she'll put her fingers to the keyboard and a complete disconnect between her brain and her body will occur.  Nothing will come to mind, no ideas or images, no characters or plot. She'll have gone to the well and come up with no water. 

The thought is terrifying, but I think it's a fear all writers live with.

So where do writers get their ideas? And why don't they come up empty? 

The standard answer, of course, is everywhere. Travel, school, home and family, church, any experience you've ever had goes into the catalogue in your brain's computer. Lots of it is drivel, and you're glad you don't have the access code to it, but often there's a kernel of an idea, the budding seed of a character or plot or setting that speaks to your imagination. 

As long as the writer continues to experience life in all its varied forms, the ideas should never dry up.  At least that's the theory LOL. 

While I was teaching high school, I took a lot of random classes at the local university, primarily to move myself up on the pay scale, but also because I love learning. I took drama, math, and English courses. Finally, I settled into psychology and criminal justice. Every story or experience or case file related by my teachers opened my mind to the possibility of more ideas, all based on WHAT IF? I learned about criminal law, criminal investigation, drugs, and psychos. 

My idea for the serial killer that inhabits Kate Myers and Ben Slater's world in my debut book THE WATCHER came from an abnormal psychology class I took. Psych classes generate great ideas, by the way. 

I don't want to spoil the journey into the killer's dark mind, however, so I'll just say that the concept of his pathology, what drives him to kill a certain type of person, is based on the true case of a person like my killer, whom I've named John Smith. I love the benign, ordinary sound of his name.

In the actual psychology case, the patient wasn't a murderer, but his uniqueness made me ask questions: how would a person like this feel growing up? How would he handle changes in his life? What kind of family dynamics might torture him further?

Thus, the villain in "The Watcher" sprang to life in my mind. 

The idea for my second book THE AVENGER came from a course I took called "Uppers, Downers, and All-Arounders," which addressed the history of drugs and their effect on the human body. I found more information about legal and illegal street drugs than I wanted to know, but I started wondering what would happen if someone had fantastic Olympic-style natural abilities, and these were enhanced by designer drugs so that he was able to perform almost superhuman feats? 

What could the government do with these kinds of people?  So "The Avenger," a cross between the TV show "Alphas" and "24" was born. 

Cover blurb for The Avenger. 

 A clandestine government organization called Invictus "recruits" outstanding athletes for secret projects. But their top agent Jackson Holt has extraordinary, almost preternatural, qualities not even the Organization can explain.  

Olivia Gant, professor of Ancient Studies at a private college in California, was once Jack's childhood sweetheart. But when he deserted her, he left her alone to combat her stepfather's drunken attentions and her mother's careless neglect.  

Nearly twenty years later, their paths cross in a mission to fight a bizarre religious serial killer whose methods include crucifixion and burial alive. Olivia and Jack battle for happiness against years of secrecy and distance as they use Olivia's expertise in Latin and Jack's special gifts to track a brutal killer. 

Can Olivia forgive Jack for his long-ago betrayal? Can Jack allow Olivia to witness the terrible Change that makes him such an  effective killing machine? Excerpt

BUY: AMAZON, SMASHWORDS

How about you, readers?

• How do you stimulate your creative juices? Whether it's art, music, writing, scrapbooking, or handiwork, what motivates you to indulge in your passion?
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• What do you do for fun and entertainment? Any out-of-the-box kinds of hobbyists out there? 

Like many writers, I penned my first story at a young age.  However, a family and a teaching career put my writing dreams on hold until my Advanced Placement seniors conned me into writing my first complete manuscript.  That story, which subsequently won RWA's Golden Heart Award in 2006, was THE WATCHER.

From the moment I put my fingers to the keyboard, the
barrier between my brain and the paper lifted, the story flew from my mind, and I fell in love with everything about the process of writing.

Raised as an Army brat, I lived in Germany as a child, Northern Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Idaho, and Utah before finally settling in Northern California.  Whenever I visit my sister in Virginia or my brothers in North Carolina and Florida, upon returning home I remember again why I love Northern California, home of the ancient redwoods, the fecund forests and the rugged Pacific Coastline. 

Jo's Website

Romance Bandits

Follow Jo on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/jorobertson44

Follow Jo on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/jorobertson29 

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