Motivation to write some fiction

Years ago, I got a copy of The DaVinci Code for my birthday. It was right after the book had initially been published, the hardcover edition. I didn’t start reading until a couple of months later on a Christmas trip to Paris. Long before the hype or the movie, I began to read through this thriller on the plane ride over, and every night after we got back to our room.

As I read, I kept trying to change our itinerary to include the places mentioned in my book. I asked to go to some obscure church that the author fictionalized a secret panel, I wanted to visit the park mentioned, I wanted to go see where the excitement described in what I was reading actually took place.

A few months later, I read an article in the travel section of the newspaper about how droves of tourists with the book in hand had descended on the poor little church, searching for the secret panel the author created for his story. The priests had to put up signage discouraging tourists from searching for it.

I recently started to think about my experience with Dan Brown’s book, and how it made me feel as I spent time in the city his adventure took place in.

Think about when someone offers to show you their vacation pictures – how interested are you, how long can it hold your attention? Now, imagine someone showing you their pictures accompanying an unexpected story. Which scenario would you prefer?

On this trip to Paris, we happened to stay near the Moulin Rouge, which is right in front of the neighborhood the movie Amélie was filmed in.

We had seen both movies before this trip and we spent a day walking around these places having discussions about the films. It was great fun wandering around, experiencing everyday life in these places that had shared interesting stories with us previously. We didn’t need a guide book or even a map. Yet we had a very memorable day reliving these spots while we remembered these stories.

What if there was an adventure based around kids having an adventure in a cool city, using the story to share places kids might want to visit on a vacation with their family.

What if middle-grade readers had an adventure story centered in a city they were visiting?

I had honestly never considered writing fiction before, but the story and characters started forming in my head. This lead to an outline, and a plot.