Day 11: Tone Milazzo - Picking Up The Ghost

A lot of writers hate the question "Where do you get your ideas?"
Maybe a formal education in English makes one inclined toward magical
thinking. Because in English so much has to be take on faith. I before
E except after C, except when it isn't. But I was a math major, where
if you want to know why 1+1=2 you can look up the theorem and whole
books about it. In math the answer to "Where does this come from?" is
usually out there.

The idea for Picking Up the Ghost first took root while I was in my
local Border's. I hadn't read a fantasy novel in years, and was trying
to find a book to bring me back in. But they all seemed so by the
numbers. 1) an orphaned, 2) white guy with brown hair, who lives in 3)
pseudo medieval Europe discovers he has 4) a destiny and and takes up
the 5) elemental good, usually a magical sword to defeat 6) a force of
Evil.

Sound familiar? A lot like King Arthur? There's nothing wrong with
stealing plots, Shakespeare made a career out of it. But there are
other plots out there to steal.

This revelation became the manifesto for my own story. About a kid
with a family, an American of color who was cursed by a mysterious
black wire hand and thrown into the supernatural underground and its
animal-like drives for consumption and power. I inverted all these
tropes that I felt were being overused to write the book that I wanted
to read.

I'm Tone Milazzo, being easily jaded is my muse and that's where I got
this idea.

**Note: There is a HUGE giveaway at the end of the month after Halloween!!! To enter for the giveaway, comment on the blogs. The more you comment, the bigger chance you have at winning!!! There will only be 1 winner, and the winner will be announced 1st week of November!!! Good Luck!!!