Inspiration Can Take a While...

"Where do you get your ideas?"

A very common question.

I answered it in the CJ Redwine interview:

'Obviously I am inspired by other works. Perhaps music? Out of the blue. Anywhere. I ask a lot of questions and then play “What If?” with the answers.'

But I recently realized the specific inspiration for Midnight Chaser.

I'm not sure what prompted me to remember it. But I'm glad I did.

Before I tell you the actual spark, first let me say that I'd written the basic premise of the story in my "bank" of ideas. But it only existed as a snippet. Didn't have the whole story by a long shot. Just a "what if" to play with... which sat around for at least two years if not three or more. One day I referred to my notes of stuff to play around with and then received flashes (presumably from Andy) to make it a full-fledged tale. But what prompted the original tidbit?

A Michelob commercial from yesteryear! I've hunted for it on the web and found quite a few retro ads but not the one in question. It must have been in the late 70's or early 80's. As I recall it, the camera pulled away from the people partying all the way back to show the globe and the night moving across the earth...singing: "A Michelob night never really ends, goes 'round the world, starts over again..."

And that, dear readers, is where Midnight Chaser had been born. I'm not even a beer drinker!

How wonderful that the commercial subliminally stuck with me all these years.