Writing Question of the Month

In last month's issue, many of you wrote in to ask questions about the writing process. I'll do my best to answer one of them in each issue from now on. If you don't see your question answered, just send a reply to this email I'll answer!

Q: Where do you get your ideas/inspiration?
~ Linda from NM, Debby from GA, and Trinitee from OH

A: This is an excellent question! The Dragonflies at Night (2020) idea began with my love for Josh Groban and my wish for him to have a fulfilling, loving relationship. That spun into creating a musician (Ben Shepherd) with some of Josh's qualities, and a female love interest for him. It was so much fun, creating them!

A few of the other characters surprised me by showing up during the writing of the first draft. One of these was Savannah's deceased mother (Deirdre Rose) who was still finding ways to connect with her daughter. Another character, an intuitive named Tomas, whom Savannah meets when she visits Ben in L.A., showed up in a dream and I paid attention. He plays a very important part of Savannah and Deirdre Rose's continuing relationship.

The idea for Feathers in the Sand (July 11, 2022) began in 2011 on my daily walks while undergoing cancer treatments. I kept finding feathers on the sidewalk (3 or 4 per day, unusual!) and I wondered if a little girl started finding so many feathers like that, if she would think they were angel feathers. Of course, the feathers I found were not brightly colored feathers; they were ordinary bird feathers. But my imagination kept going back to a little girl thinking of them as angel feathers. I don't want to say too much more about Eva Gilmore, the 11-year-old in this novel. Why does she think the bright feathers she's finding are coming from angels? What does she do with the feathers? Who does she tell? Who does she NOT tell? And where, oh where, are they really coming from? You'll have to read Feathers in the Sand to find out!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the ideas come from somewhere outside of me, as well as somewhere inside of me. They come from something I hear, something I read, a quote, a dragonfly, a dream, a TV character, a person I see in the post office... It's a magical, mystical thing, where all these ideas come from, and I am learning to be open to them; I am learning to pay attention to where they lead.

Stay tuned... more questions from readers about writing next month!