Lurking in the back of my over active imagination has been an idea for a new thriller that deals, as a sub-text, with the nature of memories and the personal associations that define an individual’s life.
I’m not going to give away the plot but, suffice to say, I have come up with a structure and plot for a thriller that, I believe, will be hugely original and stunning – if I can pull it off.
To make this work, however, I need a mountain of memories from individuals with the caveat that they will only be used as the meat and drink of the story and the identities of those individuals will never be revealed. There would be no point doing this in any case. It is the memories I want to record and document.
But not just any old memories. I could probably invent a couple of hundred in a few hours. What I am looking for are life changing memories that are profound, shattering, frightening, hard to bear, embarrassing, revelatory, visionary or even evil.
But I have to be careful here. I have to accept that many people will be unwilling to reveal what could be intimate information or so personal that there is no way in God’s Earth that they would be prepared to reveal such information to a complete stranger.
What, for example, if the person had committed a crime and had never been caught but could not rid themselves of the recollection. Truth is I am unlikely ever to be sent such a memory but, these are the kind I am after. The only way I can think of reassuring people is by saying that they can use a false name if they wish. It’s the memory I’m after not the biography of the individual.
For those, on the other hand, who are happy to associate themselves with there contribution I thought I might list their names with my profound thanks and goodwill in an dedication page (assuming the book ever gets published)
There is a page on my website at http:www.davidcallinan.com/memory where you can contact me with ideas, questions and with your memories.
Let me say I already have quite a few and have been surprised by the intensity and personal nature of the responses. I am extremely grateful to those who have responded and I do hope that if you read this you might wish to take part in the great ‘memory collector’ thriller research.
Booklovers 