Every novel starts with a “what if.”
For my mystery-thriller The Emperor’s Curse—book one in A Chinese Holiday Murder Mystery—that “what if” began in a very ordinary way: with a freak storm, a washed-out cave, and a fossilized chunk of amber hiding flecks of strange gold dust.
In the very first draft, that storm unearthed the amber, my characters found the gold, and the mystery spun out from there. It was eerie and fun, but the idea felt small. The gold dust created tension, yet it didn’t carry any history. It didn’t feel like a curse—not yet.
When the Plot Gets Hit by Lightning
Then, in the middle of revisions, lightning struck—on the page and in my brain.
I started wondering: what if this gold dust wasn’t just a weird natural phenomenon? What if it was part of something powerful people had been hunting for centuries?
That single question cracked the story wide open. Instead of a random storm discovery, I began to imagine a much older, darker origin: an immortal elixir, brewed for a paranoid emperor who was terrified of death, stolen from a tomb that was never meant to be opened. Suddenly the gold wasn’t just gold. It was the last trace of a secret people had killed to protect—and would kill to find again.
That was the moment I realized this wasn’t just backstory. It was the spark that could fuel an entire series.
The Emperor Who Chased Immortality
Here’s where real history slips in.
China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, genuinely launched a nationwide search for an “elixir of life,” ordering officials and alchemists across his empire to find a potion that would let him live forever. Archaeological finds and ancient texts describe expeditions sent to remote regions, and later scholars even suggest that mercury based elixirs meant to preserve him may have contributed to his early death.
We don’t know exactly what those alchemists brewed in their furnaces, but the image of glittering, dangerous concoctions designed to cheat death lodged itself in my imagination. What would happen if a fragment of one of those legendary elixirs survived? Who would try to control it now? And what would they be willing to do to keep it hidden? Those questions sit at the heart of The Emperor’s Curse:
From Mystery to Ancient Curse
Once I re-imagined the gold dust as the last remnant of a stolen imperial elixir, everything changed.
The small-town setting suddenly connected to a 2,000-year-old secret. Villains became more ruthless, because they weren’t just chasing money anymore—they were hunting a piece of immortality. And the story no longer ended neatly with one solved case. The elixir could resurface anywhere, leaving a trail of bodies and buried truths.
In other words, this one eerie substance gave me something every series writer dreams of: a larger mystery that can echo through multiple books.
When Characters Steal the Wheel
If you’re a writer (or a very devoted reader), you know that sometimes your outline is in charge… and sometimes your characters and your research yank the wheel.
Once I tied the gold dust to a stolen elixir, my cast started behaving differently. Certain characters became more secretive. Others were suddenly willing to cross moral lines they’d never considered before. The story gained a sense of inevitability, as if this curse had been waiting centuries for them.
That’s my favorite part of writing supernatural mystery and small-town conspiracy thrillers: the moment when an idea grows teeth. A tiny “what if” about a storm can evolve into a battle over power, history, and the human fear of dying.
Want to Step into the Curse?
If the idea of an ancient elixir, a modern murder, and ghosts from the past intrigues you, I’d love to invite you into Paige Gold’s world.
You can read Act 1 of The Emperor’s Curse for free when you join my reader list. It’s a women-sleuth mystery thriller with supernatural suspense, small-town secrets, and a conspiracy that refuses to stay buried.
Grab your free Act 1 here
Already hooked and want the full story right now? You can also find The Emperor’s Curse on Amazon and other major retailers