Mount Etna alive again

Sicily. An island with a rich history, not in the least because of that one mountain that dominates it: Etna.
The Arabs named it the Mountain of Fire and word goes that Zeus trapped the deadly monster Typhon underneath it. It’s easy to imagine the father of all monsters lurking below the surface of the Etna, you only have to stick your hand in one of those fuming crevices and you know he’s there, the last son of Gaia who set out to destroy Zeus. He almost got the job done, ripping out Zeus’ sinews in their first battle. But Zeus struck back, like a true ruler of the Gods should, and threw Mount Etna on him, trapping him to all eternity. Or not…

A hot and fuming crevice

My trip up Mount Etna was scheduled a mere two weeks after the southeastern crater became live again. Standing on a fuming hot volcano rocks a writer’s imagination. With my feet planted firmly in the snow at the very rim of the northern crater my mind wandered to the characters in my future books. Which one of them will end up in that crater? Will he or she trip, slip or be pushed in? What happens if you tumble into a smoldering pit? Will you survive? Burn to ashes? 

A writer contemplating the death of her characters

If you’re stuck for inspiration — and not only when you’re a thriller writer — I recommend hiking up a live volcano.