Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
Here, There, and Everywhere
8/6/2025 4:55:16 AM
"Where do you get your ideas?"
Inspiration for Remake the Song
An oft-asked question for writers is, “Where do you get your ideas?” The best answer is also the title of the Beatles’ song “Here, There, and Everywhere.”
Ideas do not appear laid out like the offerings on the dessert table at the Stuff Yourself Silly Buffet. The Molten Lava Chocolate Cake (a steamy romance set in Italy)? The Luscious Lemon Squares (a sweet chick lit with tart dialogue)? Perhaps The Killer Kitchen Sink cookies (a mystery filled with a variety of suspects including a few who are totally nuts)? If only it were so simple.
Ideas are sneaky and often hide away in dark forests in Patagonia.
Ideas also come at you when you least expect them. Two a.m. seems to be the prime time for inspiration to hit. If you’re lucky ideas drift by when you’re near a pen and paper or a device that will work for jotting down that bare glimmer of a plot or description of an intriguing character.
I was inspired to write two of my books following events involving “real-life” ghosts. My second novel, “Hot Stuff” was born out of a mild obsession with Bollywood dance videos and a lot of take-out Indian food from Kismat in Upper Manhattan. (Pardon me while I take a moment and salivate in remembrance of their potato and pea samosas.)
“Remake the Song” was inspired by a very different kind of video. About twelve years ago I happened to watch a clip of Phil Ochs singing “No More Songs” he’d filmed for a TV show (back in the early 1970s before MTV existed). Gut-wrenching was a fair description of the video and gut-punched was my reaction. Phil Ochs committed suicide in 1976. He was 35.
I began listening to more of his songs and the thought came into my head...Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a way to go back in time and prevent the death of an incredibly talented singer? I was working on a “non-paranormal” novel at the time but I knew I wouldn’t forget the idea and one day I’d take what was one crazy wish and turn it into a book.
After I finished writing Paris Nocturne I decided that the impish, enigmatic Irish facilitator of time travel, Fiona Belle Donovan, needed to swoop down on tall, red-headed dancer Shiloh Meridian and give her the chance to go back and try to fix what had been broken in “real” life…the 1975 mysterious death of singer Marcus Kennedy. Note: I did NOT pattern Marcus after Mr. Ochs or any other singers from the 60s and 70s. He’s all my creation. Wish I could meet him in person.
Then I added a twist. (No spoiler…it’s at the beginning of the book.) Instead of having Shiloh be age 20 in 2025 when she meets Fiona Belle, she’s 70. When she wakes up in 1975, she’s 20 again, with no memory of the last 50 years of her life…which makes it a lot harder for her to figure out why she keeps having this this nagging thought to “save Marcus Kennedy.”
“Remake the Song” was written in a month. I’m a “pantser” which means I don’t outline and am never sure what the next chapter will bring, but I knew Shiloh and Marcus so well that when I sat down at the computer and typed “Chapter One”…they pretty much told the story themselves.
Remake the Song
https://bit.ly/43ktKNC
Post a Comment
More Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
• Commercials and Diversity - Sunday, September 27, 2026
• A Second Remembrance - Saturday, September 12, 2026
• Legacy - Thursday, August 27, 2026
• The Founding Fathers...Good and Bad - Tuesday, August 25, 2026
• The Saga of the Printer - Saturday, August 1, 2026
• What do you want? - Monday, July 20, 2026
• Playing Detective - Tuesday, July 14, 2026
• Mick, Mick, Speak English! - Monday, July 13, 2026
• Bills and Bins - Thursday, July 9, 2026
• Father Joe - Wednesday, July 1, 2026
• Land of Confusion - Tuesday, June 30, 2026
• Do What You Love - Thursday, June 25, 2026
• Crayons and Flight 800 - Monday, June 22, 2026
• Be Kind - Thursday, June 18, 2026
• Words - Tuesday, June 16, 2026
• Pride and the 10 Commandments - Thursday, June 11, 2026
• French Fries and The Full Monty - Wednesday, June 10, 2026
• More scams - Tuesday, June 9, 2026
• Ferris Wheels and Color - Wednesday, May 20, 2026
• The Journey Continues - Thursday, May 7, 2026
• I'm so Confused ! - Thursday, April 30, 2026
• Tales from the Floor, the Hospital/Rehab and Beyond - Sunday, April 26, 2026
• The Oldest, Established, Permanent, Floating, Work-in-Progress in History - Tuesday, March 31, 2026
• Past Time to Fix Things - Sunday, March 22, 2026
• Holding out for a Hero - Thursday, March 19, 2026
• When Fear Wins - Monday, March 16, 2026
• The De-evolution of Humanity - Wednesday, March 11, 2026
• What Do You Want? - Monday, March 9, 2026
• Do No Harm - Thursday, February 26, 2026
• Hope in a crowd of strangers - Sunday, February 22, 2026
• Sweet Cream Ladies and a Valentine's Card - Sunday, February 15, 2026
• No regrets - Friday, February 13, 2026
• Give Peace a Chance - Thursday, February 12, 2026
• Four for Texas - Tuesday, February 10, 2026
• A nation of sociopaths - Thursday, February 5, 2026
• Moondance...When Characters Take Control - Friday, January 30, 2026
• Clansey's Point of View (Moondance) - Friday, January 30, 2026
• The Why - Monday, January 26, 2026
• Frightened for the Children - Thursday, January 22, 2026
• Beauty - Tuesday, January 20, 2026
• Elements of Hate - Sunday, January 18, 2026
• Julio - Wednesday, January 14, 2026
• Reality - Monday, January 12, 2026
• Dancing to Care - Saturday, January 3, 2026
• Jake, L'il Boy, and Houdini - Wednesday, December 31, 2025
• Hope for 2026 - Tuesday, December 30, 2025
• Propaganda and Disinformation - Monday, December 22, 2025
• All I Want for Christmas - Saturday, December 6, 2025
• Illegal Orders - Tuesday, December 2, 2025
• Pick up the Pieces - Reunions and Stevie Nicks - Saturday, November 29, 2025
• Fake Promoters Upping the Game - Tuesday, November 25, 2025
• Scarecrow's Dream: And the Ghost Fell in Love with the Dead Man - Sunday, November 23, 2025
• Cold Wind to Valhalla - Naked Actors and a Minstrel in the Gallery - Sunday, November 16, 2025
• Another Scam - My Author Friends Beware! - Thursday, November 13, 2025
• Legacy of Silence - Spooky Houses and Hot Air Balloons - Saturday, November 8, 2025
• Chia Seeds - Powerhouse Protein! - Thursday, November 6, 2025
• Another Batch of Kolaches and a Pack of Tonys - Sunday, November 2, 2025
• Kolaches and Mozart - Aria in Ice - Tuesday, October 28, 2025
• Great again...WHEN? - Saturday, October 25, 2025
• Sweet Dreams - How They're Made - Friday, October 24, 2025
• In the year 2050 - Wednesday, October 22, 2025
• Deadly Deja Vu - In Time for Halloween! - Tuesday, October 21, 2025
• What is Your Bridge Too Far? - Sunday, October 19, 2025
• The "Making" of Remake the Song - Friday, October 17, 2025
• Paris Nocturne: Inspiration - Saturday, October 11, 2025
• Haunting Melody: Inspiration - Monday, October 6, 2025
• Silence is Unrelenting - Friday, October 3, 2025
• Inspiration: Hot Stuff - Wednesday, October 1, 2025
• Why the Hate? - Saturday, September 27, 2025
• Ghosts, Wandering Here & There: Inspiration - Wednesday, September 24, 2025
• Shall we Dance? - Sunday, September 21, 2025
• Children Should be the Priority - Wednesday, September 17, 2025
• Moronic - Saturday, September 13, 2025
• Alleged - Friday, September 12, 2025
• Fanaticism and Empathy - Thursday, September 11, 2025
• "Review Packages" - Monday, September 8, 2025
• GO VEGAN - Saturday, September 6, 2025
• Creepy- with a Side of Intent - Monday, September 1, 2025
• P.O.S.S. (Perfect Older Sibling Syndrome) - Saturday, August 23, 2025
• Pushing Back On - Monday, August 18, 2025
• From Compromise to Inspiration - Sunday, August 17, 2025
• Ptiching to Authors...A Nearly Daily Annoyance - Saturday, August 16, 2025
• A Discussion of Literary Agents - Friday, August 15, 2025
• Reach Out and "Touch" An Author - Tuesday, August 12, 2025
• Here, There, and Everywhere - Wednesday, August 6, 2025
• Reviewing the Situation - Monday, August 4, 2025
• Music and Movement (In a beach read!) - Sunday, August 3, 2025
• Remake the Song - coming VERY soon! - Saturday, August 2, 2025
• Writers Who Care - Tuesday, December 20, 2011
• A WRiters Work - Monday, December 5, 2011
• Tell Me a Story! - Tuesday, October 25, 2011
• A Gentle Ghost Story - Sunday, October 9, 2011
• I Got a Name - Part Two - Saturday, April 16, 2011
• Self- E and POD versus Trad - Wednesday, March 23, 2011
• More Dialogue Tips for Writers - Friday, March 18, 2011
• How I Spent Spring Break (A Cautionary Tale) - Wednesday, March 16, 2011
• I got a Name - Friday, March 11, 2011
• Want to help name a book? - Tuesday, March 8, 2011
• Spring Break - Break! - Saturday, March 5, 2011
• Dialogue Tips for Writers - Wednesday, February 23, 2011
• Writing Tip - Singing -Keep it OFF the Page - Tuesday, February 15, 2011
• Respect - A Writing Nudge - Friday, February 11, 2011
• To Stupid to Live? Ouch - Wednesday, February 9, 2011
• Writer's Tip - Know Thyself - Tuesday, February 8, 2011
• "Risky" Business - Sunday, February 6, 2011
|
