I Have a Hunch by Jeremy DrCoursey

Every book has its secrets and things that change from the earliest drafts. Here are a 5 secrets behind my debut novel for teenagers, I Have a Hunch.

1) I finished the first draft of I Have a Hunch back in August 2017. This draft was before anyone else had read through it and was littered with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and plot holes. I have a photo of myself taken by my friend Paige Copsey, when I presented her a copy of the manuscript.

2) However, the idea of the novel had been floating around in my head long before that. I have ideas and messages on my phone going back to 2014. A text to my friend Beth read:

I thought of a new character for my book ‘I Have a Hunch’. Miss Elaine Neuss. She’s just a miscellaneous woman that Mystery Investigator, Hubert Umpp, suspects for the dastardly murder.

Miss Elaine Neuss (say it aloud!) never appears in any of the drafts of I Have a Hunch; and Hubert became Humphrey before I had even finished the first chapter. Both changes are for the best I think, but I find it very interesting how the novel has evolved since it’s first conception.

3) The locations that appear throughout the novel are inspired by real-life places which I have been to. While I was working on the film Rush we filmed a scene where Chris Hemsworth’s character, James Hunt, gets married. This location was the church on Lord North Street in Westminster. We filled the street with old cars, and background extras. This was one of the first jobs that I worked on in London and it blew me away. Unfortunately the street is barely seen in the movie (which you can see on YouTube), but still being in the road inspired me. This is the street which later became the detective office for Humphrey.

4) Once again, while working in the film and television industry I’ve been able to film at some fabulous period properties all around the UK. The inspiration for the Verba Tymm Estate came from several places including Ham House, Wrotham Park, Hatfield House, and Tyntesfield. If I could cherry-pick certain rooms out of these properties I would create the perfect floor plan.

5) The last character to be added to I Have a Hunch was Alice’s crush, Amadeus, who she meets towards the end of the book. I remember seeing a West End musical about The Kinks. There was a moment where all hope seemed to have been lost, when the band had decided to split. I felt that this was missing from Alice’s journey. She just went through the motions and didn’t make a decision for herself. Breaking her away from Humphrey meant that she had to finally make a choice on what to do next. She could either go home, or return to Humphrey and the investigation. Not to spoil anything, but it wouldn’t be much of a story if she went back home would it?