Set Your Sights On Adventure

Set Your Sights On Adventure By Michael Clark Creativity! How does it happen? For me, it always starts with a spark of inspiration: a seed, a kernel of something that stirs in my gut. But how does that seed grow into a full-length novel? The quick answer is “slowly,” but that’s no help. In order to explain better, I’ll use my adventure-horror novel Hell on High to help spell it all out. The back-cover synopsis of Hell on High reads:   Prepare for adventure as Juliana, a nineteen-year-old Brazilian, is forced to run from an occult overlord, leaving her sister in peril. Temporarily safe, Juliana works to save money for Vilma’s rescue—and along the way, meets Patrick, a rich-boy mountain climber with friends in high places.  Angus Addison wants to see his corporate flag on the summit of Mount Everest—carried there by the first woman in history—but the Himalayas are no joke. Failure could cost both sisters their lives.  Juliana weighs the risks and rewards—for even if she raises the cash, she still must figure a way to free Vilma from the same man she ran from—a man known to his disciples as The Farmer. Don’t worry if you can’t spot my kernel of inspiration, it’s not in the synopsis, but you can see that this book starts in Brazil and at some point includes a trip to Nepal. If you read between the lines, you might also gather there’s a stop in the United States to meet a boy named Patrick. That’s a lot of adventure. How did I connect the dots? I’ll cut to the chase.  My first kernel of inspiration for sitting down to write this book was my fascination with the dead climbers left on Mount Everest. That’s the butterflies-in-the-gut reason for the whole thing. For me,...
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