Sometimes I get asked how I come up with ideas for my story. So let me tell you about the three that are currently vying to be the next one written, and how I came up with the concept.

First is the Cinderella story. I wrote a New Zealand version of Beauty and the Beast, and I wanted to follow it up with another modern-day retelling of a fairy tale, I just couldn’t decide which fairytale to rewrite. One day, while sitting in the work ute, a story started to formulate in my brain about a woman who has a business that a stepmother is trying to sell out from under her. I have a well-developed plot for this story, but not names, but they will come.

The second story is a follow on from my ice planet story. My original story started from a dream, and this one kind of developed from a half-awake moment, where I thought of a name, Ko’nul, the son of Vyvica and Kelvaras. Ko’nul is the eldest son, the heir to Vyvica’s throne, but he’s a reprobate. He ends up with amnesia and looked after by woman who works in a bar, where he ends up working too. It’s a story of redemption.

The third story, which isn’t quite developed, is the next Racing Harts story, which is Hope. She races sprint cars, and her mechanic is AWOL. But then Thor turns up, and he is exactly as he sounds, tall, blond, beard, braids. He’s American and sent to help Hope with her sprint car, but other than that, I don’t have a real plot for this story yet. But ideas are percolating.

Which story do you think I should write next?