What inspired me to write my book? – Rik Stone @stone_rik

What inspired me to write my book?

Lots of people feel the need to write almost as soon as they learn to put words together. I went to

school with girls who kept diaries and diligently made entries on a daily basis. Not me, I was like

the other boys. If there was a ball to play with, we’d play football. If there was no ball, we’d find

an old tin, maybe in a dustbin, and play kick the tin. In the late 50’s, early 60’s, where I came

from that was what life was for a young lad – and I loved it.

I don’t remember the exact age, let’s say fifteen for the sake of argument, but I picked up a book

I think was my uncle’s and began reading it. The novel was called The Carpetbaggers and was

written by Harold Robbins. The first chapters, when the protagonist’s parents were murdered,

absolutely enthralled me. I couldn’t put it down. Unfortunately, not enjoying the greatest of

concentration at that time, I found the book too long, too slow, and soon got bored. However,

when another novel by the same author showed up in the house, The Adventurers, I thought I’d

give it a go. Once again the first chapters had me living the pages, but, yet again, as I delved

further into the book my interest waned.

So, you might think, no signs of a budding writer here. But no, those first chapters in The

Adventurers were about an author who’d made it to the top of his trade. He lay next to his

private swimming pool in the garden of his grand house musing over what the point of his life

was now he’d done it all. Without realising it at the time, that man by the pool had been so

believably drawn by Robbins that he weaved himself through my skin. Over the years he held on

to a compartment of my mind. I wanted what he’d had. You might think I mean his wealth and

position. That would be nice, but no, my reasoning was that the stories of that fictitious writer

were adored by all who read them. He had a worldwide following and his works were renowned.

I think what I felt was that age old sin… envy.

This figment of some writer’s imagination grabbed a space in my mind from where he

occasionally popped up to make sure I hadn’t forgotten him. I was fifty when I retired and I had

no intention of donning a new harness belonging to someone else. At the same time I’m not one

to sit around contemplating life and I’d been an avid reader for many years. The little man in my

head chose that moment to highlight an opportunity. I did creative writing courses, bought and

read a multitude of ‘how to write anything’ type books and started writing… and there I was,

proudly presenting my debut novel Birth of an Assassin. An interesting offshoot to this tale; you

can carry ambition around for many years without even knowing it.

Buy Now @ Amazon, B&N, Kobo & Waterstones

Genre - Thriller, Crime, Suspense

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Rik Stone on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://rik-stone.simdif.com