WRITING A NOVEL? HMMM

I’m asked often during casual conversations, how to write a book? Where do ideas come from? How do you keep the story going for three, four hundred pages?

I don’t know. Other than possible ideas drift through my head and disappear. One persists in hanging around. It’s hard to shake. And there you are.

One began while working for a weekly Montreal magazine. The guy in the next cubicle stood up waving a book. His first. If he could do it etc.?

Each of my books – or screenplays – begin with me asking myself: “What if…?"

What if… teenagers facing a dull summer discover a plot to steal priceless paintings from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. (Montreal Adventure)

What if… a writer sent to isolate himself in Paris was suspected of murder?

Author’s comment: I had lived in France several times. One year spent in Paris and the Dordogne. Perfect settings for what turned out to be a wild ride for the book’s main character. (HARVEST)