Award-winning author discusses her new book and gives tips for writing creatively
T.K. Thorne thinks the “muse” often given credit for inspiring and guiding writers is the subconscious brain, which she likens to a room full of interconnected computers. The conscious mind, by comparison, is like a laptop, and using it is like shining a flash light in a dark room. You can only see what you’re aiming at, Thorne says.
Thorne spoke at Alabama Media Professionals’ monthly meeting May 9 at Homewood Public Library. A retired police captain and an award-winning fiction and non-fiction author, Thorne discussed her four published books, including her newest novel, “House of Rose,” which is the first in a series. She also answered AMP members’ questions about writing creatively.
Thorne says she trained herself for years to listen to her subconscious and trust it. For instance, the “House of Rose” series was sparked by three words that popped into Thorne’s head while she was brushing her teeth. The words were “You’re a hero.”
“I typed those three words,” Thorne says, “then I kept typing, and three books came out.”
Someone said the three words to the main character, a police officer, in “House of Rose,” and she rejected them because she had just chased a suspect down an alley and found herself looking at the body of a person she had shot in the back. The character didn’t understand what happened, and it turns out a bit of magic was involved, Thorne says.
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