Stories From History (Kind Of)

This week, I'm working on coming up with the story for the second book in a trilogy. A perfect time for a "Where Do You Get Your Ideas?" post!

This book is alternate history--that is, it takes place in a past that didn't exist. But I still want the past to look like our past, and to feel like our past. So some of the places and people of the past are still there, they're just...different.

Two of my characters are chasing a woman who claims to be a mystic. Looking at the map of the alternate United States I've made, I saw a region I hadn't explored yet: the independent country of Louisiana. Louisiana has a fascinating past. New Orleans was a major center of trade in the colonies, due to its position on the Gulf Coast at the bottom of the Mississippi River. It became a melting pot too, when thousands of Haitian slaves fled there after a revolt against their French masters.

Those Haitians brought their Vodoun religion and beliefs with them, giving rise to what we today call Voodoo. Awesome! I'm already having lots of great ideas about how my two characters can enter a world of Voodoo mystery. I see a lot of reading about the history of Voodoo and New Orleans in my immediate future.

Pick a time and a place in the past, and read about it. Then think about how you could tell a story of something that didn't really happen--but might have if there was magic. Or aliens. Or computers. Or if a major event happened differently. History is a great place to look for story ideas--especially if you're going to change it!