Donna Speaks…About Ideas & Surprises
By LMReviews on Sep 9, 2008 in Multicultural Contributors, Multicultural Media, Multicultural Writing
In the second part of this five-part sequence, Sable Lit Reviews gets Donna to share how she comes up with so many story ideas and what stories surprised her the most.
SLR: With over 50 books to your credit, your idea well appears to run very deep. What are some of your favorite resources for story ideas?
DH: My ideas come from so many places. I read extensively, watch movies, new and old, listen to conversations and pay attention to issues that effect me, things that I feel passionate about. Ideas can be sparked by a song title and its message or a news story. The world is so big with things happening every day so there is always something that one can zero in on and make it your own. Although there are no true original ideas, as a writer you can take something old and make it your own with a new spin, which is what I did with Getting Hers, which was based on an Alfred Hitchcock movie, “Strangers on a Train.” I used the mood of New York City during the rash of murders of black men by the police in A Scandalous Affair. In “Diva’s Inc.,” it was a spoof on the whole Cinderella story and a wink and a nod to “divas” and how we all have a true diva in all of us. With “In My Bedroom,” I explored the impact of incest. In “An Ordinary Woman” I attempted to give a new perspective on a “mistress” and the aftermath of an affair. With “Rhythms” the story line is about dreams and dreams deferred and the impact of family secrets. With “If I Could” and the sequel “Say Yes,” I tried to show the impact of one woman taking charge of her life no matter what the naysayers said, including her friends and family and how her resolve forced all those around her to examine their own lives. Those are just a few examples. I hope that answered your question.
SLR: That was a great run-down. It is really amazing how ideas can build upon themselves and lead you an entirely new direction yet still be closely related to the initial idea.
Is there a book you’ve written that completely took you by surprise either during the writing process or in how it was received by editors or readers?
DH: I think it was actually several. The first being “If I Could” the response from readers was humbling to say the least. I got a letter from a reader that said because of that book, she finally found the courage to leave her abusive husband! With “In My Bedroom,” I was told during a signing that it was being used by a psychology teacher in her class because the issues and the medical information that was woven into it was so much more accessible to her students than the text books. And there were so, so many women who came to me after a signing and wrote to me to tell me that “it had happened to them and now they were ready to talk about it.”
SLR: That is so rewarding as an author. Sometimes we get caught up in entertaining our readers we forget that what we do, if done well, can do so much more.
Tour takers: Care to share a book you’ve read that motivated you toward change?
Check out some of the books Donna has referred to in her great responses on the right.
Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to see what Donna has to say about critique groups and genres.
Just wanted to say wow. I am so amazed. She makes it sound so easy.