The Origins of Every Step You Take: A blog by M.A. Hunter

Every Step You Take is out today!🎉 Get your copy here for 99p!

I’m often asked how I manage to develop so many ideas, particularly when I tend to write 3 – 4 books per year. And my answer is always the same: my mind works in a magical way.

Following my autism diagnosis in 2023, I now know that how my brain works is actually different. And the idea for Every Step You Take is no exception. Weirdly, this isn’t the first time I’ve had an idea inspired by something I’ve seen on social media. My last book, The Trail, was inspired by my agent in 2023 when she tweeted that she desperately wanted to read a speculative thriller set in the Appalachian Mountains. I had a
pitch and synopsis submitted to her within three days. In April 2023, I was trying to raise my engagement on social media, and for a bit of fun, I invited my fellow writers to summarise their currents Works In Progress (or WIPs) using only the medium of emojis. At the time I was working on an idea for a psychological thriller set in the Australian outback, and so I posted a kangaroo, a knife and a screaming face. Several friends took up the challenge, and with each I then tried to guess what their book was about, and posted an elevator pitch back to them.

One of my agent’s other clients (the brilliant Ola Tundun, author of uplifting, dramatic and emotional women’s fiction), replied with what looked like a woman running, an anxious face and a crazy face. Knowing the type of writer Ola is, I jokingly replied: “During her efforts in the London Marathon, a runner realises her stalker is also competing and must figure out who he is before her own finish line emerges.” My agent replied, “STEF WRITE THIS IMMEDIATELY,” so I did as I was told, and started researching the London Marathon course, and previous races, looking for ways my antagonist could get at his target. And now, almost a year later, Every Step You Take is hitting the shelves.

Isn’t creativity wonderful?