What Inspired My Book?

For many years now, I’ve enjoyed listening to podcasts, some of my favorites of which cover true-crime, the paranormal, and other mysteries. Although I am not a conspiracy theorist myself, I do enjoy reading and learning about them. I love UFO sighting and alien abduction stories. I love unexplained phenomena like the Gary Sudbrink phone calls in the late 90s. I love learning about secret societies. So when I came to discover what would become my biggest influence for this novel, I was already primed to fall face-first into the lore, the storytelling, and the characters.

My father watched the show when it was airing in the 90s and early aughts. My brother binged the series a few years ago and enjoyed the hell out of it. It finally took my manager (and photographer, website designer, typesetter–seriously, I have yet to find something she’s not amazing at) at my current company convincing me to give the show a try so that she would have someone else to discuss it with. And that show is The X Files.

From the Pilot I was hooked. If I were to rewatch that first episode, I’m sure I could pinpoint every single thing that turned on my interest for the story, but what became most important for me throughout the series was something that I’m sure many other viewers relate to: the relationship between Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. The tension between them is established immediately; the bright-eyed believer searching for the truth, and the logical skeptic poking holes in almost any theory. And as their relationship progresses and their bond grows deeper, that tension is tested until sometimes they seem more alike than either would like to admit.

This dynamic was irresistible to me. It is often considered to be one of the most well done slow-burn romances in media history, and some may not even consider it a romance. However you look at it, I loved the way that these two characters challenged and complemented each other, and I knew that I wanted to create something similar. And when I found that I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for in media outside of the series, I knew that I would need to create it for myself. I wanted a similar dynamic for my characters; I wanted the challenges, the tension, the tenderness, the disagreements, the eventual fierce loyalty. I knew someone else out there probably wanted it too, and that was enough for me to run with this glimmer of an idea that had burrowed itself inside of me.

You know that saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself”? That’s what this story felt like for me. I’ve read a few books that I hoped would elicit the same feelings and encompass the same aesthetic as The X Files, and I have watched a few movies and shows as well that sounded like they might do the trick. At the end of the day, nothing else did it for me, so I knew that I would have to do it myself. I knew that I would need to perfectly craft an atmosphere, a story, a vibe that put me into the place that the show did and that, hopefully, I’d be able to scratch the itch for others looking for this type of story. That’s when Blaire Days and Ira Stone came to be. I knew I wanted a similar dynamic with one person that would be willing to dive head first into an odd circumstance, the other standing by, watching, pushing back. And I knew that I wanted them to have a lot more in common than they first thought.

As this story has grown, expanded, and become something much more than what I originally thought up, I’ve loved getting to look at the ways in which I’m able to weave Blaire and Ira’s stories together. It’s complex and sometimes painful, but also full of love. I hope that you’ll come to find that when you read my book.

Let me know if you have any questions down in the comments! The next few months will have many more sneak peeks and releases. I hope you’ll stick around to solve the mystery with me. :)