Some readers have asked me where I get my ideas. There are two honest answers. Answer number one: I have no idea.
Yeah, I know. No help, right?
But, seriously, your brain is its own computer and has been acquiring data since birth. Every person you’ve ever met, every conversation you’ve ever heard, everything you’ve ever seen, it’s all inside your mind and comes out on the written page in little bits and pieces. Talk about artificial intelligence, right?
Answer number two: Everywhere
Books, movies, songs, people you know and things that happen to them. Everything becomes a possibility for an appearance in one of your books.
Lola
Here is a prime example. I love animals. I lost my beloved, Lola, this year and my heart is still broken. And one of my best friends lost her precious dog, too. My friend and I were talking about our pets, how much we miss them, and how they add more than we can say to our lives. I shared with her a recent story I read.
This lady had a pug that was a foodaholic. This dog loved food. This dog literally stole food from a baby.
This pug also loved to go with her owner everywhere, particularly for rides in the car. One day this woman, her pug sitting beside her in the passenger seat, pulled up to a light. Next to her, a man in a red convertible also pulled up to the light. Suddenly, the woman heard her pug make his signature battle cry. She turned her head and watched in horror as her dog leaped out the window, landed on the lap of the man in the convertible and began eating his submarine sandwich.
After, I stopped rolling on the floor laughing, I knew right away that this story would be filed away in my mind for future use. What a great way for my hero and heroine to meet in one of my new books, right?? I can hardly wait to begin writing.
Callie
What cute or outrageous things have your pets done??
Our dog, Bear, was half chow-chow – and the dumbest animal on the face of the planet. He was on a zip leash, so he had a lot of room to run, and he’d wind his leash around anything he could reach – the bamboo, the clothesline post, the BBQ. When he couldn’t move any further, he’d sit there and bark. I can’t tell you how many times we woke up in the middle of the night to “I’m stuck! I’m stuck! I’m stuck!” We’d go out and lead him around to get him loose.
One day, he wound himself around a large tree. My husband stood at the back door and said, “Go around, Bear! Go around!”
Bear looked at my hubby, stood up, and turned in a circle. Then, feeling proud of himself, he eagerly sought approval from his Lord & Master.
What can you say? He did what he was told.