But... I don't Write Crime Fiction...

This is not the post I intended to put up today. I started a list of "10 Commandments for Writing", but that's currently sitting unfinished in my draft folder because something else broke in and wanted my attention.

So that odd little spark that says "You know what would be cool...." then proceeds to hand me another storyline for my list struck again. Only this time, it's not a YA story or a children's book, or even a fantasy. (It has a fantastic element to it, but it's pretty far in the background.). I don't write crime fiction. I don't even know much about crime fiction, but I still find myself hitting Google to figure out if this is a trite storyline.

I won't go so far as to claim it's original - as we know, there are no original ideas in their entirety - but it seems like it may be original enough. And this is one of the very few "sparks" that's left me thinking "Wow, this is really good."

*We've got time travel (the fantasy element, which is basically only a vehicle).

*We've got a crazy killer man running all over the place taunting the police to find him (Calls himself Marco Polo at this point, still not sure if that one's been used.)

*We've got a family man on a mission as the protag... who just informed me he's Native American and he hates the name I gave him.

*We've got a bit of a love story, for those who like that sort of thing in their thrillers... I hope this thing turns into a thriller.

I really don't know what to think about this, other than it's taken total control of my attention today. Scenes are falling out of the ether into my brain and bringing layer after layer of characterization with them. It's been a long time since that happened with a story.

I have absolutely no idea where the "inspiration" for this story came from. If I dissect it, I'm sure I can match up specific themes or ideas from other sources, but if I dissect it, I run the risk of shutting the whole thing down and I don't want to do that.

Maybe I write crime fiction after all.