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Readers often ask writers where the ideas for their books come from. I know a lot of writers who cringe when they hear this question. The truth is ideas come from everywhere. They slip into your imagination in a million different ways—a man carrying a brown paper bag crossing the street, a news story, a conversation overheard in a restaurant, each one could potentially spark a story idea. That is the amazing thing about the imagination. It’s always active and it pulls in everything both consciously and unconsciously. Imagination is the place where stories are nurtured and then born. I think of inspiration differently. Inspiration is something that lights a spark within that urges us to be creative. Recently, I’ve drawn inspiration from the television show True Blood based on the books by Charlaine Harris. A quick trip over to the HBO forum boards shows that fans are passionate about these characters and their lives. I’m sure the attractiveness of the actors doesn’t hurt and no I’m not writing about vampires. What I find inspiring is what has come to pass based on one woman’s imagination. Of course, every writer would love to see their books come to life on television or in film—very few ever see that happen. Still it’s not the lure of television or film fame that I find inspiring—although a woman can dream. It’s that all this True Blood excitement, notice, and fan involvement started with a writer diligently sitting in front of a computer and typing away—one word at a time until a story was born. That’s what I find inspiring. One writer, alone in a room years ago, writing a book that took on a life of its own.
