Amanda T. Fox

            Most writers that come up to me will ask me where my inspiration comes from, and many assume I have a sure fire way to find it, some big secret on how to discover their next story. But the truth of it is, as is so often stated by many artists, that inspiration can be found just about anywhere. It can strike when we’ve given up, it can strike when we’re motivated, it can happen when we’re in the shower, it can happen while we’re driving, reading, watching TV, hiking, and so many other things.

For me, inspiration often strikes when I’m not looking for it and it makes me wonder, what if? So often, we’re told that ‘what ifs’ are intrusive thoughts that we should avoid, but when used creatively, what ifs can be come the best tool an author has to creating their next big story or idea.

What do I mean by this?

Too often, my stories come from a place of wondering what if. The best way I can think to explain is with my own experiences, so let’s get into it.

The first book in my Rogue series, Rogue Fate, is about a woman who was murdered by someone close to her, and when she came to the Afterlife, she was tapped to become the first and only Fate. But it meant leaving everything she had ever loved behind her, opening a new future for her in the Afterlife realm. This was an idea that came to me while watching Disney’s Hercules with my children one night. We saw the fates as they spoke to Hades, and suddenly, inspiration hit me. What if there was an original Fate? What was her origin story? Surely there had to be one before there were three, so who was she? What if the original fate’s life story was similar in style to say…Cinderella? What if her stepmother was a witch? And if the stepsisters were witches too, wicked and abusive?

What if she was, technically, dead?

This lead to the inspiration for my Afterlife realm. What would that look like? What if…Afterlife was split into pieces? What if it was angels and demons, but also purgatory? What would my version of that become? It took some time and a lot of overthinking, but after some excitement and thrill, purgatory became the Dragon shifter realm, a world of morally gray men and women who were half demon, half angel and given the opportunity to redeem or condemn themselves?

Another example is this would be my latest series, the Rogue Circus. For this one, I was inspired by a trip to see the Zerbini Family Circus with my family. As we watched the trapeze artists and the jugglers, the clowns and the performing animals, laughing and having fun, I began to wonder. What if the performers…were immortal fantasy and supernatural creatives? Who would perform which task?

And thus, I began to see the story series unfold, and learn who my characters are.

It doesn’t have to be something specific, it can be as simple as thoughts in the shower or something you see while on your way to work. Inspiration is where every great story idea begins, and you never know where it may end up. It could be a movie or a book, a photo or a painting, a show or a song, anything can be inspiring, if we only ask ourselves one very fun and interesting question.

What if?

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