I see lots of blogs about where story ideas come from. Author interviews where inevitably somebody
asks what the author’s inspiration was for a story. Whether it is a muse whispering in your ear
or simple intrigue from something the author saw, the seeds of inspiration come
from everywhere.
I personally feel most of mine come from thinking about
concepts and asking questions, or something I see that doesn’t quite add up,
therefore causing that initial intrigue.
So today I thought I would begin an experiment which I shall
visit repeatedly as this seed grows. It
will develop into a story idea and eventually lead to a story or it will fizzle
out into the hogwash of useless knowledge and tidbits gained from years of
researching related crap for my other stories.
I mentioned in my last blog post that my next book “Leviathan
Deterrent” will deal with Wiley Randolph’s training to command a Submersible
Aircraft Carrier. Part of my research
for the book was to determine what the current qualifications are for becoming a
Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine Commander. I also had to figure out what the
qualifications for becoming an Aircraft Carrier Commander. What classes do these guys have to take? What training do they require?
Along my journey I ran across an unusual website which
mentioned a guy seeing a sign in the middle of the desert on a fence for U.S.
Navy Underwater Warfare Training Center.
The site goes on to discuss this person’s investigation into this seemingly
unlikely place for an underwater warfare training center. It includes reports of interviewing
undisclosed former navy personnel who claim that enormous underwater caverns
exist than run under the Pacific Northwest as far inland as Nevada. Where this secret training facility is located
that happens to have a sign on the fence with the actual description of what it
is, on the sign.
While the stupidity of our government never fails to amaze
me, like the underwater phone listening and taping device we had submarines
place over underwater cables between land and the Soviets Naval Base, which had
a label affixed to the inner casing of the device, “Made in the U.S.A.” Not exactly what you want labeled on the
inside of blatantly espionage hardware left to spy on your cold war enemies. So it wouldn’t be that big of a stretch to
see such a sign on such a facility even if they were trying to hide it. This is the same government which deems it
necessary to put on a page in a manual (This page is intentionally left blank.)
While I am aware of underground water tables and monstrous aqua
ducts as not too far away is Mammoth Springs. North of there is a sink hole where you can
throw in a bale of hay and later that same day the bale of hay will bubble up
through the Springs down south. It has
been determined that the water from Mammoth Springs originates from Canada and
travels over halfway across the United States to gush forth from Mammoth
Springs. Is it possible giant underwater
caverns exist that extend from Nevada to the Pacific Ocean and that the U.S.
Navy has been aware of them and mapping the caverns out since the 1930’s. Possible?
Then comes the questions.
What if the author of said blog about this secret base is crazy? What if it doesn’t exist? Well that would be the best case scenario for
writing a fictional science fiction story about a secret base and some mission
involving submarines.
If it is real, that poses more questions. What if the sign is really there as retarded
as that would be? What if it really is a
secret underwater warfare training center?
What if the caverns exist? Would
you be blowing the lid off something that should remain a secret? Would you be compromising National Security
in any way by writing a story about the place?
The last thing I would want to do is spend a year or better
writing my next block buster edge of your seat keep you up all night reading
masterpiece to have the CIA sweep in and clear my computers and present my with
an injunction to stay away from computers and no more writing or I will get
locked up in prison!
So this is the seed of an idea. Now comes the checking it out, subtle
research, talk to some old retired Navy vets, research water tables, and see
what percolates. Later after I get some
more information I will still need to develop an initial mission that would
take us into the caverns, something that could go wrong, and something to add
some tension to the otherwise boring secret base that nobody is going to
believe exists anyways.
I will revisit this post and develop this idea, piece by
piece, here on my blog so aspiring authors and readers can follow along the
journey. It will either turn into
nothing, or it will grow and develop into a story, that who knows may someday
be that next great book.
It helps to be creative.
I am a Sci-Fi/Adventure Novelist, so off the top of my head.
If we can drive submarines from Nevada out and into the
Pacific Ocean what would keep an enemy from driving a submarine in from the Pacific
Ocean and detonating a nuclear weapon subterraineously under our country? Would a nuclear weapon going off down there
blow up through the surface, or just cause tidal waves in the Pacific from
clearing out the water in the giant caverns?
Could it cause a geothermal event such as an earth quake or volcano in
Nevada?
If my blog stops after today it will more than likely be
because I just exposed some terrible threat to our country and gave away a huge
government secret and I am in prison with my books writing my next novel on a
roll of toilet paper with a crayon. So
whose crazy, the web site guy or the Sci-Fi writer. Stay Tuned ! !
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