Inspire Me!

This week's Inspire Me! post is dedicated to the one of the world's most prolific authors, Agatha Christie.

I first discovered Christie's books when I was around the age of 13 or 14 and was hooked. I think the first story I read was a Miss Marple mystery, which I loved and I went on to methodically track down all the Marple stories I could find. My search led me to Poirot and that is when I became an absolute fan.

Now that I am a writer myself, I have to say my admiration and love of Christie has escalated because of her pure genius of mind and expert plot execution. Plotting is the worst part of writing for me and I write romance or historical fiction. To juggle clues, red herrings, characterisation and fantastic settings the way Christie does leaves me in complete awe.

Not only has she written over 60 detective novels (all of the Poirot stories have been adapted for TV and the title role played by the wonderful David Suchet), she also penned the world's longest running play, The Mousetrap. A play, to my frustration, I am yet to see, but plan to see this year.

Christie famously disappeared for 10 days in 1926 making global headlines but no definitive explanation was ever given and what actually happened or why remains a mystery. Some speculate is was a combination of overwork, her mother's passing and her husband's infidelity that led to Christie disappearance.

Agatha Christie is, and always will be, one of my favourite authors and I hope her books are read for many, many years to come...

Happy Inspiration Day!