New Blog Post: The Idea Well

Yikes! So I'm late again. But this time I have good reason. I spent all of yesterday reading two books (I know, two - a new record for me!!!) because I'm trying to whittle my to-be-read list down before Tuesday.

Why? you ask.

Because two kick-ass books come out on Tuesday and I want nothing to distract me from devouring them!!!

What books? you ask.

Check it out:



Seriously. Can't. Wait.
















So, back to the chain. This round was started by non other than the the above book's, THE DEATHDAY LETTER, author, Shaun Hutchinson, who asked:

"From where do you get your inspiration for stories? Give me the oddest, coolest, things that have inspired you."

Wow. This was a tricky question for me because I get my ideas, literally, everywhere. But to give you a more recent example, let me start with my WIP. I've been obsessed with mermaids since I was eight-years-old (thank you Disney!) but, when the idea for this novel began to form (late 2007) I knew that my mermaids would be unlike any portrayed before. My inspiration came from the oil companies and their oil leaks, the human population and the CO2 levels we raise in the ocean, and the military and the sonars they use to disrupt migration and breeding patterns of sea animals.

Seriously, if you were a mermaid, with everything we've done to the ocean, wouldn't you be a little less inclined to sing and brush your hair and more inclined to be royally pissed?

Next, enter my MC, a seventeen-year-old girl who's recently moved to Florida because her military step-dad has been relocated to Aglin air force base. To write her point of view I used my memories of my next-door neighbors growing up. Their dad was a pilot in the air force and what sticks out most in my mind was the fact that they weren't allowed to call their parents "Mom" and "Dad". They had to use "Ma'am" and "Sir". Also, my first husband was in the air force so I spent a year living on an air force base, which, if you've never been, is a world all into its own, so I drew upon my own experiences with military families to add to the story.

Basically, I draw on my own experiences or real world happenings and add a paranormal twist. How about you? Where do you draw your idea inpiration?

Check out Abby's answer before mine and Shannon who will answer tomorrow.

And don't forget to check out THE DEATHDAY LETTERS and THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE!!!