At the end of my novel 'Gangsters of Shanghai' I wrote: "Growing up in Limerick city, Ireland I spent every summer holiday at my maternal grandmother’s dairy farm in County Limerick. On the wall of theAt the end of my novel 'Gangsters of Shanghai' I wrote: "Growing up in Limerick city, Ireland I spent every summer holiday at my maternal grandmother’s dairy farm in County Limerick. On the wall of the farmhouse was an old black-and-white studio photograph of a serious young man in a formal suit, accompanied by four young Chinese men in silk robes. This was my great-uncle, I was told, my grandmother's brother, who along with a second brother, served as Sub-Inspectors in the Municipal Police in Shanghai, China in the 1920s. As a child I spent many hours staring at this photograph and imagining the adventures my granduncles must have had..."
That was the inspiration for my book.
I still have a copy of that photo hanging in my home in Sydney, Australia.
I was wondering if any other writers out there were inspired by a picture, a souvenier or some family heirloom ......