Learning about other Authors

I love to learn about other authors. I love to listen to them explain where their ideas come from, their methods, and how they bring their books to light.  There is a certain amount of curiosity that comes from trying to figure out where the best selling authors get their ideas, how they plan things, as well as a time table they work on.  I'd like to share a few examples.

This is an interview on CBS where they discuss where Stephen King got the idea for some of his novels.  They mention Cujo, and his new trilogy: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of the Watch. I really recommend the watch because if you enjoy his work it is fun to see his ideas.
http://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs_this_morning/video/rn6dnT4WIYQ7pm411nZ02EVxbyOczGTT/stephen-king-on-inspiration-behind-end-of-watch-2016-politics/

There are other books where you can learn from other authors about their methods.  In "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" Orson Scott Card discusses that his ideas come from maps which he likes to doodle.  Others, like the battle room from Ender's Game, came from living during the Vietnam war and wondering how battles in the future might be trained for and fought.  (I paraphrased this one and know it's only part of the idea. If you want to know more read the book, it's only about 100 pages.)

Both of these are great books and show how versatile the mind of an author is.  Ideas are everywhere, the idea for my character Patch from my novella, A Wolf in Patchwork Clothing, came from my reflections on what happened to Frankenstein's monster.  There was also a twist of Sci-fi in my thoughts as I tried to figure out what might happen to someone who lives past the normal old age, someone who begins to see normal peoples lives passing like the seasons while he continues.  There is more to that, and I have more stories involving him in the future for you.

For now know that I'm still working as well as I can.  I'm dealing with some health stuff that makes it hard to sit in front of a computer all day, (which is what I do at work anyway), so coming home I need to move a bit more or deal with discomfort.  Until then if you want more books that shed light on the workings of authors I'll recommend the following, they all have some great insight and thought on writing, as well as showing the differences that exist between three bestselling authors.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland.