Caridad Pineiro Proves that People Screaming in Your Head is a Good Thing
My guest today is none other than New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Caridad Pineiro. Thanks for being here, Caridad!
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I think one of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “Where do I get my ideas?”
Sounds like a simple enough question and yet the answer is far from easy. Sometimes it’s an interesting story in the news. Sometimes it’s a person who catches my eye on the street. More often than not, it’s a character that starts screaming in my head and won’t stop until I listen to them.
I guess that’s one thing to warn people about – writers hear people in their heads all the time, but instead of needing to see a shrink we exorcise those voices by putting pen to paper!
Some of my best ideas have come about as a result of those voices. I was actually in the midst of writing a book that was under contract when a very persistent female kept distracting me. I knew she was strong, but conflicted. A loner and yet capable of great love. She was kick-ass and because of that she immediately became Diana, like the warrior goddess.
But I had a book to write and pushed Diana out of my mind until a few days later my husband and I were going out for an anniversary dinner. We had a delightful waiter named Ryder. Suddenly Diana started screaming again, almost as if to let me know I had found the mate for her. A solicitous and caring man. One who could love her and never leave her.
Wait a second . . . Never leave her. That was impossible unless . . .
Unless Ryder was immortal — a vampire.
From those scattered thoughts DARKNESS CALLS was born and Diana Reyes and Ryder Latimer came into existence. DARKNESS CALLS was the first of over a dozen novels and novellas in THE CALLING vampire series.
Something similar happened to me as I was trying to work on the concept for a new paranormal – SINS OF THE FLESH. I wanted a story set in the real world, but with different paranormal elements. I searched in my mind for days until I realized that the answer was sitting right on the shelf in an old college text book – a genetics text book. It was not only a class that I had enjoyed in college, it was a subject that I had kept up with over the years.
Putting my scientist brain back on, I started playing around with the idea of what would happen if non-human genes were introduced into a person? What kinds of powers could they have? How would that happen and why? Most of all, what kind of person would allow that to happen to them?
Suddenly a woman came into my mind. One who would die without extreme medical intervention. A woman filled with passion and courage. She needed a classy and exotic name – Caterina. And she needed a unique profession – a celebrated cellist. She also needed a man who would challenge her vision of herself and what she wanted out of life – Mick Carerra, a mercenary with a heart of gold.
SINS OF THE FLESH was born from that brainstorm and so was the next book in the series – STRONGER THAN SIN – which will be ou
t in October 2010. But I also knew that I wanted to do more than just two books about what happens when monkeying around with genes creates new people with incredible powers.
A short while ago the entire process started all over again for the next books in the SINS series. Who would be my heroine? Hero? What would be their powers? Was the story going to be darker than those from before?
Thinking time again. But as much as I wracked my brains, something was keeping me back. Not writers block because I couldn’t start writing. It was more like thinking block.
Where would I get my ideas?
This time I opted to take some time away and see new things. Visit new places. Go to some museums and other locations that might somehow break that thinking block. As I stood looking at some ancient artifacts, something broke free and a glimmer of an idea came to me. Before I knew it, I was back at the computer, fleshing out the mythology for a new book.
So there is no easy answer to the question of where a writer gets their ideas. They come in all different ways. You just have to open your mind to all those different possibilities!
New York Times and USA Today bestseller Caridad Pineiro wrote her first novel in the fifth grade when her teacher assigned a project – to write a book for a class lending library. Bitten by the writing bug, Caridad continued with her passion for the written word through high school, college and law school. In 1999, Caridad’s first novel was released and a decade later, Caridad is the author of over twenty novels and novellas. When not writing, Caridad is an attorney, wife and mother to an aspiring writer and fashionista. Caridad’s November 2009 release, SINS OF THE FLESH, is the first book in an exciting new paranormal suspense series from Grand Central Publishing. Look for STRONGER THAN SIN in October 2010. For more information on Caridad, please visit www.caridad.com or www.thecallingvampirenovels.com
Hi Lisa! Thanks so much for having me with you today. And to thank everyone who drops by, I’d like to have a contest. If you leave a comment at Lisa’s blog today, you’ll have a chance to win a STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirt and a copy of FURY CALLS! The contest ends at midnight EST today, April 16th!
Looking forward to chatting with all of you today.
I love your Calling series, and ditto for Sins Of The Flesh. I can’t wait to read the next one.
seriousreader at live dot com
Awesome Post, intrigued me, made me smile see—> 🙂
I live in Australia, so i cant wait til i can buy Stronger Than Sin!!!
I can see why “Where do I get my ideas” would be a frequent question, im amazed how authors do come up with stories, i know that whenever i do, it reads too much like something i’ve read haha. Loved the post!
Bianca.
Hey Caridad,
I can’t wait to read Sins of the Flesh but I refuse to have to wait too long for the second one so am just holding off for Stronger than Sin. I have to have at least two in a series to be read back to back or I get frustrated!
cissikat @ yahoo . com
So, when I keep hearing voices in my head there really isn’t anything wrong with me, I should just send the voice to Caridad? Sharla, you can read Sins of the Flesh now (it is great!) and then read it again when the new book comes out :>)
Hey Caridad! I can’t wait for the new book to come out, but in the mean time a t-shirt would be nice ** Grin ** I loved the post and I hope that you and Lisa both have a great weekend.
The voices in my head usually come out at night and don’t let me sleep.
I guess I ought to get a laptop and sneak off to another room or something. Best I can do is keep a pad and pen in the bathroom. I wish I had a dime for every good idea I ever had and neglected to write down….
Maybe there’s a place somewhere that these ideas go…maybe tucked away in the back of my mind somewhere. It would be nice if they showed up again sometime.
I had the same problem. I’ve kept a PDA by my bed for the past 5 years to jot down all those great ideas without turning on a light.
Hey there!
What a lovely blog post today! I too hear voices but mine don’t inspire books. Mine are like that angel and devil on your shoulders, saying things like, “Go on and have that brownie. It’s just a small one!” and the other voice saying, “Are you kidding me? How are you going to lose weight if you keep eating all that sugar?” It’s a vicious circle, LOL!
Oh! I hear other voices too, again not inspiring books. I hear, “Don’t forget: laundry, supper, groceries….” — lists of things I don’t want to forget, usually inspired while doing dishes and I can’t write them down easily.
I have a glass of milk in front of me. I’m going to say a little toast for our afternoon: “Toasting our health, and raising a glass, hoping we’ll soon, get off our….” well, you get the drift. Back to work! Thanks for sharing!
LOL, guys! You’ve made me smile! I know it’s a long way off for STRONGER THAN SIN, but it’s going to be worth the wait and I think you’ll really like where we’re going after that (visualizing my editor buying it!)
Thanks for sharing where ideas come from. I enjoyed Sins of the Flesh and can’t wait for Stronger Than Sin to come out.
I really like the Calling series. Unfortunately, one of the books missing from my collection is Ryder and Dianna’s story. I have enjoyed them in other books though. I am looking forward to Stronger than Sin. Sins of the Flesh was great.I actually ignored my Grands while I read it. That was a first as it had been a year since I saw them.I have found that anything Caridad writes is excellant. She puts a lot of time and effort into her books. I hear voices in my head all the time. I mostly ignore them as they are trying to get me into trouble. LOL. Have a great day.
I really enjoyed the post and I’ve enjoyed all of Caridad’s books I’ve had a chance to read.
Gotta love those sudden bursts of inspiration! I do my best thinking the shower, myself; unfortunately, the closest writing surface is…the shower stall, lol. Then it’s a mad dash for paper and pen and fervent prayers that the paper survives the watery assault.
Thanks for the look into your process, and for the chance to win! 🙂
Caridad, I am so glad you hear voices in your head. From those voices great images, writing and great books are written. Besides, I don’t want to be the only one who hears voices in my head. Lol! Thanks for giving me a chance to win.
Thank you all for coming by and all the wonderful comments! I truly appreciate them. As for the shower, I get some wonderful ideas in the shower. Must be all that water creating positive ions or something like that.
Also — congrats to Fannie for winning the contest! Please send me your postal address and also – which Diana and Ryder book do you need? DARKNESS CALLS?
Thank you so much for spending this time with us, Caridad!
It was wonderful having you here. I hope you’ll come by again.