The Idea Bank

I sure wish I had one...

They come from the oddest places, really. I might overhear a snippet of conversation, and something just pops in my head. Or I might be in the shower (where most of my best ideas come to me) and suddenly there's a character, doing something interesting, and I have to figure out why they're doing it and who they are, and what the rest of the story is.

Mostly it's a bare plot idea first, not even enough to hand a scarf on much less a book. But then a character will appear, and another, and then whole scenes--usually the set pieces I talked about last week--and before I know t, there's aplot and a story ready to be told.

News articles, songs, chats with my husband, stuff I see online...I never know where one will come from, but come they do.

The hardest part is doing them justice.