Setting the Scene
By Patricia Sargeant

I love to learn the inspiration and motivation behind writers' works, whether they're creating songs, screenplays or books.

In an interview with L.A. Banks about her Vampire Huntress Legend series, Ms. Banks explained the battle between the huntress's army and the vampires serves as an analogy to the battle between drug dealers and our communities.

Have you read any of the Vampire Huntress Legend books? I have, and I can definitely see the comparison. It's fascinating.

In a documentary on George Lucas's body of work, he explained while trying to develop the script for Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, he had a clear image of the scene in which Indiana Jones battles the Nazi caravan. Do you remember that scene?

Lucas said once he had this image, "all" he had to do was figure out what came before that scene and what came after it. That's all.

When developing my first published romantic suspense, You Belong to Me, one of the first scenes that came to me was the one in which the hero confronts the heroine in her hotel room to try to persuade her to sell him the film rights to her book.

One of the first scenes that came to me while developing On Fire was the scene in which the hero saves the heroine from a burning building.

As a writer, can you share with us one of the first scenes that came to you for one of the books you've written? As a reader, is there a particular scene you've read that especially resonates with you?