Joanie Chevalier
asked
James P. Sumner:
Hi I can't wait to read your stories. My question: do you have inside information on military/detective/weaponry? It seems that your main character and scenes are conveyed well. How do you, as an author, first, come up with ideas for your stories, and second, research/acquire information about particulars for your chosen storylines? Thank you.
James P. Sumner
Hi Joanie,
It's lovely to hear from you and thank you for your question!
I admit I have zero inside knowledge - I spend many hours researching the weaponry, technology and locations in my novels. I typically verify anything on at least three websites before I'll believe it to be accurate. I then give that information to Adrian Hell!
In terms of how the stories come about, I tend to look at it from the character's perspective. Because the series of novels focus on the life of Adrian Hell, they all loosely follow on from one another. The idea for Crucible took a few months to take shape and is a culmination of a few different ideas that I had.
About halfway through writing any book, I start to think, what comes next? What's the next logical step to take if you were in Adrian's shoes? I try and think of one big idea or plotline that would suit the character, then tame it a little and expand it and find the believable step for Adrian to take that will link the previous book into the next one. I find inspiration in everything. For example, I woke up at 3am one night from a weird dream - the events of which, after some tweaking, formed the storyline for my second book!
I'm currently working on the final draft of the fourth book, which I started planning not long after I started the third one. I plan ahead so I can then guide my current book so to fit in with my idea for the next step in the series.
I find using spreadsheets to be particularly useful when planning a story, as they help me manage the timeline and the events in the book to come.
I hope I've answered your question and I really hope you enjoy my books.
Thanks for getting in touch!
JPS
It's lovely to hear from you and thank you for your question!
I admit I have zero inside knowledge - I spend many hours researching the weaponry, technology and locations in my novels. I typically verify anything on at least three websites before I'll believe it to be accurate. I then give that information to Adrian Hell!
In terms of how the stories come about, I tend to look at it from the character's perspective. Because the series of novels focus on the life of Adrian Hell, they all loosely follow on from one another. The idea for Crucible took a few months to take shape and is a culmination of a few different ideas that I had.
About halfway through writing any book, I start to think, what comes next? What's the next logical step to take if you were in Adrian's shoes? I try and think of one big idea or plotline that would suit the character, then tame it a little and expand it and find the believable step for Adrian to take that will link the previous book into the next one. I find inspiration in everything. For example, I woke up at 3am one night from a weird dream - the events of which, after some tweaking, formed the storyline for my second book!
I'm currently working on the final draft of the fourth book, which I started planning not long after I started the third one. I plan ahead so I can then guide my current book so to fit in with my idea for the next step in the series.
I find using spreadsheets to be particularly useful when planning a story, as they help me manage the timeline and the events in the book to come.
I hope I've answered your question and I really hope you enjoy my books.
Thanks for getting in touch!
JPS
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more