Inklings: The Story Behind The Lockwood Collection

Inklings is a series of posts where I share the inspiration and a bit of background on how a story seed became a finished tale. Here’s a little more information on The Lockwood Collection.

I’ve already talked briefly about The Lockwood Collection and how I came up with the concept of Regan Lockwood and her art, but I didn’t really elaborate for fear of ruining the reveal for readers. Well, it’s time I pulled back the cover and shared a bit more detail on Regan’s journey.

I mention in the story that Regan’s grandfather was an explorer, journeying throughout Egypt and going on countless expeditions.

One of Preston’s discoveries is “mummy brown” paint. In the 16th and 17th centuries, mummy brown was a real substance, made from white pitch, myrrh, and the ground-up remains of Egyptian mummies. Apparently, though, once artists found out what was actually in the paint they were so fond of using, populatiry for the substance died off (hardy-har-har).

Yeah…I know. When I stumbled across that little tidbit of information, I knew I had to use it in a story! In fact, I built the entire story from that little nugget alone.

I looked over my original story notes from when I wrote the story back in 2009 and the original plot didn’t vary much from what I first came up with while brainstorming.

During those many brainstorming sessions, I built a lot of backstory, much of which is only hinted at in the short story, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about it. In fact, my plan now is to write some companion pieces and put together a collection of stories all centered on the Lockwood family.

I’ve already actually written a “prequel” story of sorts, which highlight Preston Lockwood’s exploration and discovery in Egypt, as well as another story which focusses on a cousin of Regan’s and her own strange discovery that is related to the family secret.

With a few other ideas in various stages of development, I’m really looking forward to getting to work on the collection and indulging in my fascination with all things Ancient, all things Egyptian, more strange discoveries and of course…more mummies!

When I workshopped this story, all of my beta readers said they wanted more, and I have every intention of delivering!

So there you go! A little glimpse into how Regan and the Lockwoods came to be, and a teaser of more to come!

I hope you enjoy the story! May it scare the bejeezus out of you!