I’m often asked how I get my ideas for my books. I'm now writing my sixth book and, so far, haven't struggled to find a topic to write about. As I worked in a prison for three years prior to my writing journey, I had a many ideas stemming from my time working with offenders. But that aside, inspiration actually comes from everywhere: everyday life, TV programmes, news articles, life experience and anecdotes from friends and family. Sometimes even a single over-heard conversation can spark an idea.
I Dare You
As a psychological thriller writer, I tend to have certain themes that are common within my stories. Themes such as fear, jealousy, revenge, family relationships, guilt and lies are just a few of them. When I began thinking about my latest novel, I Dare You, the inspiration came from the fact I’ve always lived in a village. When I was growing up the children from the small primary school all knew each other and played together after school. As a child there are often adults we’re afraid of simply because we’ve made up stories about them, or decided they are creepy because of the way that person looks or acts. For me and my friends, it was a particular bungalow that caused fear – it was set back from the road – an old wooden rickety gate its only entrance, and the path leading to the door was darkened by the low branches of gnarled trees. We were convinced the person who lived there must be a witch. It became a game of dare to run up and down the pathway – particularly at Halloween. I didn’t. I was always far too frightened.
But this dark, creepy bungalow and our silly dare gave me the idea for I Dare You - which centres on how a simple childhood game of Knock, Knock Ginger (running up to the door, knocking on it and running away again without being caught) goes terribly wrong. The impact of the incident, then the inevitable aftermath, stays with the characters. There are flashbacks to their childhood in 1989, whilst the present-day narrative follows the repercussions of their actions thirty years before.
I’ve always had a fascination with psychology, crime and how people make decisions. Split second choices can have far-reaching consequences and that’s what I wanted to explore in I Dare You. The story is also about family ties, the sense of community and the way in which some people are ostracised. It’s about why some people are labelled as ‘not fitting in’, and how that affects them and peoples’ view of them.
Small villages can be claustrophobic, or comforting, depending on who you are. It’s true that most people will know your business, so that got me thinking about how a tight knit community would react to a devastating event and how they would either pull together or be pulled apart.
You’ll have to read I Dare You to find out which of those turns out to be the case…
More articles from Sam Carrington HERE