Unpacking ideas

"And then it spiraled."

In my novels, it is not unknown for me to use an idea at the tail end of a novel, and decide that “You know, I could build an entire novel around this idea.”

For example, at the end of Infernal Affairs, the ultimate villain was a warlock, and he used living shadows for a weapon.

It occurred to me that I could build an entire book where living shadows are a threat. What if they were slowly consuming an entire city?

The next novel…. City of Shadows.

I never said I was subtle.

Usually, I stress that I really am the opposite.

In the case of Honeymoon from Hell, I had a thought, and it turned into a series.

In this case, the thought started with Deus Vult. After the events of that novel (think back to The Finale) multiple things happened. The biggest ramification was that anyone with satellite technology saw that “Damn. The Supernatural is real. And effective. And a weapon.”

Along the way, I touched on the idea of supernatural weapons, and countries trying to develop them.

What if countries weren’t the only ones developing them?

Then we get to the books.

Book 1: The Neck Romancer, for example, was going to have a necromancer as a villain. In this case, the title came first. (Thanks Rob.) So, how was I going to build a necromancer as a villain?

Obviously, he’s got to be a Chicago politician. Just as obviously, he had to be an Alderman, in order to have real power.

And what’s a villain without minions? It’s Chicago, so he either has to have “the Outfit” or gangbangers on the payroll. I went with gangbangers.

I wanted the gangbangers to have supernatural weapons for their drive-bys. It finally allowed me to use cremation diamonds for necromancer-lasers.

Now, I could finally slam together genres to make these weapons. Swords that throw lightning and cutting edges that set things on fire.

And a weapons-dealing network makes for a great ongoing threat.

So The Neck Romancer deals with weapons on a street-level.

What’s the next step up from the people who buy the weapons? The arms dealer.

Funny enough, I had heard of a certain arms dealer in real life… who was also a state senator in California. He was such a comedy routine, I had to make him a character.

Welcome to Blood Country.

Of course, you have to elevate the threat. The Alderman was one level of threat, with his gangs. But now this is wine country / Napa / San Francisco. We can have Triads and Yakuza and even more and varied weapons. There’s a reason that one chapter title is “Big Trouble in Little Napa.”

Then, there’s book three: Wyverns Never Die.

What’s the next level above the arms dealer? The weapons designer.

What do I do about an arms maker?

Well, Amanda is a 100-year old vampire who used to be a spy. I’m sure I could come up with somebody. Heh heh heh.

But yeah, all in all, I can take this one concept and run with it.

Yes, there are two other books in the series.

But Wyverns Never Die comes out in February. One book at a time.

The next book is March ... and It's called Cross over.

And it’s gonna be fun.