Ideas can be sparked by the smallest of details – a change of route, a break in routine, a woman crying in a window. In real life, it may be because she was up all night with a crying baby. Often it’s when two details meet or two elements collide, and they look like they fit. The woman is real, as is her crying baby, but safe to say, my neighbours never had any bodies in the garden. I’m definitely not the only one whose book was inspired by real events, whatever the “this is a work of fiction” disclaimer might say.

Source: The Irish Times May 10, 2018 05:26 UTC