Some authors, when starting a novel, imagine a place first. Others, a character starts taking shape in their head. I start with a hook, a situation, a 'what if.'
“There seems to be one quality of mind which seems to be of special and extreme advantage in leading him to make discoveries. It was the power of never letting exceptions go unnoticed.”
“God gave us intestines for a reason. I'm not keen on surgery. It's too extreme. All it took was one of those plastic surgery shows to see how violent it is.”