“Where do you get your ideas from?” is probably the most common question I get asked when I tell someone that I write books for children. Well, maybe second most common after an incredulous and rhetorical “really?!”.
There’s no single, simple answer to this question, but I did want to share the origin of one particular idea I had recently. Like many childrens’ stories before it, it came from a packet of Indian spices.
What I love about this packaging is that some, but not all, of the text on it is translated into French. Your average French-speaking consumer will know that they’re dealing with a spice blend for salads and savouries, but the actual name of the product, “Chunky Chat Masala”, remains resolutely untranslated.
Or maybe, just maybe, it’s already in French and needs to be translated into English…?
As a result, I’ve had an idea knocking around in my head for ages that Masala would make an excellent name for a cat, particularly one who is slightly on the chunky side. I figure that inventing a chunky cat called Masala and putting it into a children’s story is considerably more ethical than buying and fattening up a real cat for the purpose, so ever since I’ve been trying to come up with a story that goes along with it.
A few weeks back my Uncle told me that his pet cat had taken to eating curry, and that was the spark of inspiration that I needed. My fictional cat Masala is chunky because s/he eats too much Indian food. I don’t have the beginning or end worked out that I’ll need before I can call it a story in any meaningful sense, but the middle is staring to come together nicely:
Your cat might be happy with some kibbles from a bag
But mine will only eat them with a side of palak saag
I’m sure your cat’s delighted with tinned cat food for their tea
Masala might have one small bite if hers is fried in ghee
Most cats, if they’re hungry, will go out and catch some mice
But mine will sit and howl at you until you cook some riceIf she’s really starving she might eat a snack or two
Then she’ll sit beneath my chair and loudly beg for vindaloo
I don’t know at this stage whether it will turn into a fully-fledged book, but I find the fact that it’s come this far from such a strange and unlikely inspiration strangely encouraging. There’s so much weird and wonderful nonsense out there in the world that something is bound to spark a killer idea if I keep my eyes open.