How Do I Get Ideas For My Novels?
All authors are asked this question. Here's my answer.
I look for interesting real events in history, the news, or current issues. For example, my latest mystery, "Stradella's Revenge" was inspired by a Chamber Music Detroit concert where I enjoyed Stradella's gorgeous Sinfonia in D Minor for Violin, Cello and Harpsichord. When I read the following Program Notes by Roberta Viviano, I was hooked. These would become the "bones" for my new Harry Grouch detective novel:
Stradella's Program Notes
"Those who believe that the lives of composers offer little fodder for Hollywood should consider the story of Alessandro Stradella. Stradella was born into a noble Roman family in 1639 and trained in Bologna before returning to work in his hometown, where he established a fine reputation as a gifted composer. Concurrently with his musical efforts, however, Stradella became known for some less honorable pursuits—he befriended Carlo Lonati (a violinist of sullied reputation known as 'the queen's hunchback'), became notorious for his womanizing (he reputedly once tried to kidnap a high-born nun), engaged in a wide variety of criminal acts, and joined personal vendettas. In 1669, he bolted from Rome rather than be exposed for his part in a swindle targeted at a church charity. He returned after the affair had blown over, but by 1677 he had aroused enough ire in Cardinal Alderan Cibo, the Papal foreign secretary, to be run out of Rome again. Stradella then headed for Venice, where he struck up an affair with the mistress of the Venetian Nobleman Alvise Contarini. When Venice became too hot for the lovers, they headed for Turin, with Contarini's hired mnions in murderous pursuit. Somehow Stradella escaped serious harm—one legend has it that the assassins were so charmed by his singing that they could not carry out their task—and he was off to Genoa, where he both set up (with Lonati) a scheme to skim money from the local gambling, entertainment and prostitution concerns and carried on an affair with the wife of a prominent nobleman. The lady's enraged brothers hired a skilled assassin, who did not fail at his assignment: Stradella was stabbed to death in the Piazza di Banchi on the night of February 25, 1682."
Did I Succeed?
If you read my book, "Stradella's Revenge," judge for yourself: Was I successful in expanding the above brief sketch of the composer's life (and death) into an entertaining and compelling novel?
