Comments on: Stranger than life, larger than fiction

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 04:17:05 +0000

“Look at the current headlines in your local paper and tell me what novel you would write if you could rip one off for your fiction debut.”

I clip at least one small news article every week from my local paper! As my ma used to say, you can’t make this stuff up!

I’ll give you (whoever wants it) this idea, because I’m not so good at the whodunit genre.

True event: During a small town’s 4th of July parade, a horse pulling an antique farm wagon is suddenly spooked by a firecracker. He bolts into the crowd, injuring several people and killing one…who turns out to be the wife of the wagon driver.

Story: It wasn’t an accident.

By: Katie Newingham

Katie Newingham — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 12:34:35 +0000

Local headlines:

-KKK’s distributing materials for recruitment.
-Teen African American boy is shot after a cop thought he looked suspicious in his hoodie and baggy clothing. Ruled a suicide after only his finger prints were found on the gun. The cop was also African American.

Debut:

Denny, 15, sees his father kill the brother of his secret girlfriend at school after allegedly suspecting him of burglarizing several neighborhood houses. He also knows his father is the leader of the Ku Klux Klan, which is why he keeps his love for Jocee a secret. The problem is no matter what Denny does, he loses. If he turns his father in, he loses his dad who plays ball with him and helps with his homework, and his family of five, loses their provider. If he stays silent he loses himself, betrays his Jocee and turns his back on justice.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 03:09:33 +0000

“Look at the current headlines in your local paper and tell me what novel you would write if you could rip one off for your fiction debut. What are the nuggets that you would mine for a book that is more scintillating than my trial?”

Texas Death Row is a veritable gold mine of ideas.

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/index.html