Inspiration Everywhere

One of the most frequent questions authors get is where do we get our ideas. This is an especially popular question for those of us who write romantic suspense. I always think my answer disappoints people because the truth is I get my inspiration for my plots everywhere and anywhere.

For example, for one of my first books, Dangerous Christmas Memories, inspiration came from a short news article about two celebrities who’d married at a drive-through wedding chapel in Las Vegas, then thought the marriage hadn’t been real. It wasn’t until some years later that one of the discovered (via his attorney) that he couldn’t marry until he obtained a divorce. Crazy, huh? Well, in my book, the heroine has no memory of marrying the hero, who tracks her down after several years.

Real Life

Sometimes, the true event happens closer to home, as the idea for the plot in Illusion of Love. In my book, the heroine experiences an online romance that might not be as it seems. Meanwhile in real life, one of my friends had an online romance go horribly wrong (she’s happily married to someone else now, so it turned out for the best in the end), and when I heard the story, I knew I had to tweak it a bit and turn it into a fictional plot.

In Protecting Her Witness, I centered the plot around a widower and his autistic son because I wanted to give readers a glimpse of life with a child on the spectrum. My own personal experience fostering two young children with autism provided the basis for my portrayal, which many ASD parents have said is accurate.

For my Cold War Legacy series, I tapped into my fascination with 1980s East Berlin for the plotlines. In The Dark Guest, the interplay between East Berlin and West Berlin during that decade seemed to perfect setup for a superspy to escape detection—and live to wreak havoc on lives today. The true unorthodox medical experiments that occurred in East Berlin became the basis for the plot in The Dark Atonement, while the desperation of people wanting to get out of East Berlin formed part of the plot in The Dark Reckoning.

Themed Content

I focused more in overall themes of forgiveness and restoration in my latest series, Justice Delayed and Justice Denied(out in March). Many readers have commented how my heroine’s strong faith in Justice Delayed has made them think about how they would react in similar situations.

Many times, the plots and characters come to me out of the blue—a germ of an idea here, a snippet of a conversation there, a character’s voice here. I also ask a lot of what-if questions. What if this happened or that happened?

No matter the genre, we authors find our inspiration everywhere and anywhere. We’re always alert to possibilities as we move throughout our lives and interact with our family, friends, co-workers, clients, church members, and communities.

Where do romantic suspense authors get their ideas? Check out what @Sarah_hamaker has to say. Share on X

Meet Sarah…

Award winning writer Sarah Hamaker makes her home in Virginia, with her husband, children and cats. She’s an AWSA certified writing and speaking coach and hosts the podcast ‘The Romantic Side of Suspense.’ Check out her author profile page or website.