Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Nancy Raven Smith

Where do you get your ideas? This is a question most authors are asked sometime in their careers. Here’s bit about how mine evolve.

For my stories, I find my ideas come from combinations of things. It usually starts with something that catches my interest enough that I want to learn more about it. My hope is, that if the idea or place interests me, maybe it may interest others as well. What catches my attention is anything that is unusual or out of the norm. Situations or things that are unknown, quirky, funny, or odd.

 

For crime, I’m very attracted to frauds and cons. I enjoy giving unaware readers a heads-up. I also like heroes and heroines that are proactive and intelligent. All of those things went into the first book in my Land Sharks series, A Swindle in Sumatra.

 

What came first was an article I noticed while researching identity theft for a screenplay I wrote several years ago. The article mentioned the “golden triangle” as the world’s biggest area for credit card counterfeiting. In fact, it was a cottage industry there. Unsure of what that was about, I saved the article in my story ideas file to check out later.

 

When I finally searched for the golden triangle a few years ago, I discovered it included Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. And they were no longer the credit card counterfeiting center. They had progressed and were now the leading thieves and counterfeiters of international passport and identity papers. Anyone who visits that area needs to keep their personal identity under a tight guard.

 

In A Swindle in Sumatra, Lexi, the protagonist for my Land Sharks Cozy Mystery Adventure series, is an accomplished bank fraud investigator from Beverly Hills. I chose that career for her because she would constantly be dealing with white collar crime. She’s in her mid thirties and is sent to Sumatra to locate a young runaway heiress, who has disappeared with her latest mysterious boyfriend. In order to save the heiress, Lexi tangles with criminals pursuing this counterfeiting fraud.

 

For my second book in the series, Bushwhacked in the Outback, my inspiration came from closer to home. My husband teaches metal arts and jewelry making. Listening to him talk with his friends from Australia who are opal miners and dealers fascinated me. I learned that opals come from two major areas in Australia - Lightening Ridge and Coober Pedy. And opals can be more valuable per carat than diamonds.

 

When I looked up Coober Pedy, I found it is near the center of the country in the outback. The discovery that the name Coober Pedy is translated from the Aborigine language and means “White man in a hole,” made me laugh so hard, I had to write about the area.

 

Soon, Lexi, heads for Coober Pedy in a search for money embezzled from one of the bank’s customers. Only things in Coober Pedy aren’t what she anticipated. She quickly learns that opals aren’t the only things buried in mines.

 

Bushwhacked in the Outback 

“If you can’t follow the money, follow the body.”

Lexi loves her job as a Beverly Hills bank fraud investigator. It lets her pursue scam artists and con men - known in the business as land sharks.

Sadly, one crook left her with a broken heart and a destroyed reputation. And the bank’s president is looking for any excuse to fire her.

Yet she risks everything when she follows a dead embezzler's casket to Coober Pedy in the Australian outback. She knows it’s a gamble, but it’s her last hope to recover the bank’s stolen money. Unfortunately, she's persona non grata in that country. She needs to get in, find the money, and get out before the Australian police discover her presence. But will the unexpected appearance of an ex-lover make her linger too long?

If you like cozy mysteries in exotic locations with deadly secrets and touches of humor, then you’ll enjoy the multi-award winning Land Sharks Cozy Mystery series.

Available on Amazon.com

 

About the Author

Nancy Raven Smith grew up in Virginia, where she ran and participated in horse sport events. On their farm, she rescued horses, dogs, and cats and is an advocate for animal rescue. Later in California, she traded her event experience for film work. Her screenplays and novels have won numerous major awards. When not writing, Raven Smith enjoys her family and friends, travel, art, movies, and white-water rafting. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Women in Film. Visit her at NancyRavenSmith.com