There is one question that writers get asked more than any other – where do your ideas come from?
Neil Gaiman makes fun of people who ask this question because he says that writers don’t know the answer and we’re terrified that the ideas will go away if we analyse how it happens.
The late UK crime writer Peter Robinson used to tell people that he bought his ideas in bulk at Costco. Harlan Ellison says he uses a little idea shop in Schenectady. Ian Rankin once told a crowd that his publishers had an ‘ideas website’ and a password that allowed him to log-on and choose from thousands of possibilities. This got a huge laugh from the audience and afterwards someone offered him cash if he divulged the password.
At the risk of having my stockpile dry up, I will tell you where my ideas come from.
Dark places.
Insomnia.
Daydreams.
Nightmares.
Newspapers.
Weird conversations.
Like many writers, my stories start with a ‘what if’ question. What if a child goes missing in a high rise building with only one door in and out? What if someone were to fake a pregnancy and steal a baby? What if a man escaped from prison the day before he was due to be released?
All of these seeds have grown into novels for me.
My latest book, STORM CHILD, is the fourth in the Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac series and is almost a prequel to the others. Evie is a girl without a past, who was discovered as a child, filthy and half-starved, hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a shocking crime. Now a young adult, she is damaged, self-destructive and has never revealed the full details of her past because the memories are locked away, inside her head.
Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven has made it mission to rescue Evie from her trauma. He alone realises that Evie has a unique and dangerous gift – she knows when someone is lying.
Now, on a hot summer’s day, Evie’s nightmares come rushing back as she watches the bodies of seventeen migrants wash up on a Lincolnshire beach. There is only one survivor, a teenage boy, who tells police their small boat was deliberately rammed and sunk.
Psychologist Cyrus Haven is recruited by the police to investigate the murders and recognises immediately that Evie has some link to the tragedy. By solving this crime, he could finally unlock the secrets of her past.
The idea for STORM CHILD came from a story I read ten years ago about a migrant boat that capsized in the Mediterranean and people traffickers were accused of deliberately drowning those on board. I wanted to explore all the possible reasons for such a tragedy and use this to unlock Evie’s memories and reveal the truth about what happened to her.
There is a reason she has stayed silent. And a reason why she can tell when someone is lying.
Two-times Gold Dagger winner (2015 and 2020), twice Edgar best novel finalist (2016 and 2020) and winner of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (2021), Michael Robotham began his writing career as an investigative journalist working across Britain, Australia and America. Michael’s psychological thrillers have been translated into twenty-five languages and his Joe O’Loughlin series is are currently in development for TV by World Productions. Michael has twice won the prestigious Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger for GOOD GIRL BAD GIRL (2020) and LIFE OR DEATH (2015). He has twice been shortlisted for the Edgar Award for best crime fiction novel in the US, and twice won the Ned Kelly Award for Australia’s Crime Novel of the Year. Having twice been shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, he won the thriller prize with WHEN SHE WAS GOOD (2021). Michael lives in Sydney with his wife and a diminishing number of dependent daughters.
