Dear readers
One of the questions I’m frequently asked when people learn
I’m a writer is, ‘How do you come up with your story ideas.’
Ideas flow thick and fast for me, however writing the story
is the hard work.
The environment we live in is my inspiration. I use songs,
movies, television programs, celebrities, and people I meet or know.
I use movies and TV to see what themes are popular. I love
looking at modern day issues and then thinking what would that scenario be like
in the Regency era.
Movies of course often look at classics like Shakespeare and
put a modern twist on it.
In addition, a movie I love I’ll try and put my own twist on
it and set it in the Regency period. For instance, I am looking at writing a Regency
story a bit like No Mercy. I find the idea of a ‘lady’ virtually sold as a
child an interesting concept and how she’d rise above that.
In my contemporaries, I like using themes that are a bit
deeper. In THE RELUCTANT WIFE, RomCon Readers' Crown 2013 Best Short Contemporary, I
A lyric in a song can also trigger an idea. Country songs in
particular as they are often filled with heartache.
I guess, because my mind is always filled with stories, I
tend to look at the world around me as a potential story. I’m one of these
people that would be quite content sitting at a railway station, or the
airport, watching people interacting and trying to imagine their stories. I find it sad, for instance, when I see
couples out for dinner and they spend the whole meal not saying a word to each
other. Is it comfortable silence, or have they simply nothing to share with each
other anymore? I find my imagination working overtime when I see this. I try to
write a story that would see them find their spark again.
With my over-active imagination I never feel lonely.
Characters are always popping in to say hello and keep me company.
How about you? Are you a people watcher? What’s your
favorite place for people watching?
