Goodreads asked Bill Adler Jr.:

How do you get inspired to write?

Bill Adler Jr. Much to my surprise, and my publisher's surprise, my book Outwitting Squirrels became a huge hit. (I know it was a surprise to the publisher because I only received an $800 advance. That’s $400 up front, and $400 upon publication.) Outwitting Squirrels has sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

Which is good. But that also could have send me down the path of becoming a one note writer. You know, Mr. Squirrel. They guy who's written a dozen books just on squirrels and who's on TV anytime they need a squirrel expert. That could have been me. “Oh, you’re a writer, how interesting!” Then after I tell the person at the party what I write about: “I think I’ll freshen my drink.”

Instead, I'm intellectually fidgety. I'm interested in many things, and that list keeps growing and changing. I get inspired by what I see around me, and I try to look at what I see sideways, because that’s how my brain fits in my skull: sideways. After I had kids I came up with an idea for a business book called How to Negotiate Like a Child: Unleash the Little Monster Within to Get Everything You Want. Rather than inspiring me to write a book about parenting, they gave me the idea of porting their rather excellent negotiating skills to the adult world.

flag