Authors get asked all the time how they came up with the ideas for their stories, and I’m no different. One of my favorite Authors is Stephen King, particularly his short stories. In one of his short story collections, Everything’s Eventual, he begins each tale with the back story of how he came up with the idea, which I appreciated as a fan.
So I’ve decided to do the same with most of my stories. There are no new stories under the sun (King himself wrote a story about it–Secret Window, Secret Garden), but each author’s take on it is unique. How many iterations are there of Romeo and Juliet?
So how did So Wrong, the spin off to the Wright Brother’s series come about?
Well, it began when I realized that the third Wright brother definitely needed his own book. When we first meet him in Mr. Wright & Mr. Wrong he is an angsty, slightly Emo teenager. By the end of Mr. & Mrs. Wright he has grown out of that particular phase and there are hints that he may be the same perfect book boyfriend that both Michael and Alex Wright are. If you are signed up for my newsletter and read the Bonus Chapter then you briefly meet Bonita Jackson from So Wrong.
So, with River needing his own story I ran with the idea of one of my favorite fairy tales: Beauty and the Beast. It’s a oft use prototype for romance novels, and for good reasons. A heroine who loves to read? An anti-hero? The atypical villain in the form of Mr. Perfect? How could you go wrong?
So yes, I started with a heroine who loves to read and a boy who seemingly needs a bit of taming. Throw in a lot of action, drama, and fun side characters and voila! So as not to give away too much of the plot, I’ll leave it at that. I will say that there are definite shout outs to Beauty and the Beast and I hope my readers have fun picking them out. Some are obvious. Some are subtle. Some turn the book completely on it’s head.
Camilla Stevens 