NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Thanks for the inspiration!



I've started 2013 on a positive note. 2012 was a good year for me professionally and I'm hoping for the same - or even better (yes, I'm greedy) - from 2013. As I'm in a positive frame of mind, I've been thinking about how lucky I am to be a writer. There are so many things I love about it. I mean, how many people can sit with their feet up, a glass of wine to hand, staring out of the window while convincing everyone that they're working hard? How many adults can get away with having imaginary friends without being locked up?

There's another reason I love being a writer though and I only really thought about it during the festive break. It was when hubby and I made a very rare trip to the cinema to see Life of Pi. I haven’t read the book yet, and all I knew about Pi was that he survived a shipwreck and spent months at sea sharing a small lifeboat with a tiger called Richard Parker. I was curious and, hey, I love tigers.

 (Image: Life of Pi)

During the ten minutes or so before the film started, noise levels were pretty high as people chatted away and fought their way through buckets of popcorn. The lights dimmed, the film started and – well, my jaw dropped open. The couple sitting behind us talked all the way through the film. All the way through it! Loudly! Four young girls sitting in front of us did the same thing. Three people sitting on hubby’s left spent the entire two hours munching on various things and rattling paper bags.

The film ended, the lights came on, and several of us stared at the floor in horror. Empty sweet bags, chocolate wrappers, popcorn and drinks cartons littered the floor. It was disgusting. I was horrified to think that, before anyone could see the next showing, some poor soul had to clear up the mess left by those rude, selfish, inconsiderate people.

People were complaining that the film had been ruined for them. Hubby was muttering all the way home about how he'd struggled to keep his temper under control and how he'd felt like committing murder. I felt sorry for everyone who'd had their day ruined. Me? I realised that my experience had been enriched by those ignorant people. They're my bread and butter. They cause conflict. I wondered about their homes (presumably very messy and littered with rubbish). I wondered what sort of relationships they had with their neighbours. Before you knew it, I had a great set of characters and half an idea for a murder story. I could have kissed those inconsiderate morons.

As for Life of Pi, it's a wonderful film. If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s about so much more than a boy surviving at sea with only a tiger for company. I found it inspirational. It brought yet another reminder that authors are among the luckiest people alive. We start with a blank page and we’re allowed to create any world we choose.

Odd to think that a trip to the cinema can prove so useful and so inspirational. And on that note, I’ll wish each and every one of you a happy, peaceful, successful and inspirational 2013. May all your dreams come true!
 

13 comments:

Mrs B said...

Sounds like a roaring success ;-)

Unknown said...

They really do make the best characters and best of all, murder victims!

Marcelle Dubé said...

You certainly are a glass half full kind of gal, Shirley! :-) Congratulations on a successful 2012 and continued success for 2013.

Maureen A. Miller said...

Any time you need me to come over and litter inside your house for inspiration...just let me know. :)

Anne Marie Becker said...

I'd be wishing I was in that boat with the tiger....and it would certainly put me in the mood for murder. ;)

Unknown said...

Absolutely, Clarissa. What would we do without them? :)

Thanks, Marcelle. Yes, I like to think the glass is half full. Hubby said 2012 was one of those years he was glad to see the back of whereas I thought it had been pretty good, LOL.

Miss Maureen, you have an open invitation. You know that. I thought you were coming to throw champagne corks around on New Year's Eve. :)

Anne Marie, that tiger is gorgeous. So majestic.

Elise Warner said...

Congratulations on 2012, Shirley and a marvelous 2013 to all. Really liked the bit about imaginary friends--where would we be without them?

Wendy Soliman said...

The cinema trip sounds dire. That reminds me why I so seldom go.

Unknown said...

Elise, we'd be lost without our imaginary friends, wouldn't we? :)

Wendy, I used to love going to the cinema but it's getting something to be endured rather than enjoyed. When I was speaking to my sister about it, she said "That's why I never go..." What a shame.

JB Lynn said...

Wow, I'd never be able to spin that situation that way....

Congrats on your 2012 success and wishing you more in 2013!

Unknown said...

Thanks, JB. Hubby couldn't spin it that way either, and his colourful language is sure to end up in a story. :)

Toni Anderson said...

That movie is on my list! I love seeing people like this too, Shirley. My jaw drops and I think, 'People really do behave badly' :) It's like reading comments on a news article. My brain explodes at people's audacity and coldness.

Unknown said...

That's it, Toni. It makes fictional murder and mayhem so much more believable. :)

Really recommend Life of Pi. Loved it.

More Popular Posts