Writers get their ideas from life: snippets of conversation, the behavior of people in a restaurant or airport, reading the news, just watching the scenery go by from a car. . . Quite often just a line or two I’ve read in a book or heard in a play or song will trigger an entire scene.
So you can understand the dismay of all authors (or any creative) when we’re confined or limited in where we go and what we do. I read dozens of books a week all the time. That isn’t enough to trigger all those great “what if. . .” questions that generate stories, especially if I’m writing contemporary books. I can get pretty far if I’m doing historical research, but contemporary novels require actually experiencing contemporary times. And since no one wants to read about Covid isolation. . . I have to get out of the house.
So recently we’ve dipped our toes in returning to the theater. I dearly love musicals—story and song and dance at the same time! My head spins with colors and people and ideas. And then there’s the audience and all that lovely people watching. . . As in supporting our small restaurants, as long as everyone is masked and vaxed, we will continue to support our theaters that are hurting so badly right now. We can take the risk where so many others can’t.
And I’ll selfishly continue to slurp up ideas anywhere I can find them!
If nothing else, I have the first book in my new Psychic Solutions Mystery series ready and up for pre-order. . .