As I was sitting here trying to figure out what to write, a very good friend suggested sharing what inspires me! So big thanks to Cat for the idea and Gwen for the pep talk 🙂

Okay, so onto the inspiration people! What inspires me? What do I do while I’m writing? What starts my mind twirling towards a story? Honestly, a little bit of everything. Music, food, men, cars, a fabulous new pair of shoes! Let’s start with the first though. Music is always a source of inspiration for me. The drawl of a country song, the anguished scream of rock, the arrogance and confidence from a pop song. It all blends together to make fascinating characters to me.

Miranda Lambert has a great country song Gunpowder and Lead that gets me fired up and wanting to kick major male…err…booty! It brings to the page a tough as nails little spitfire. I can see her now. Black eye, split lip, messy hair and murder in her eyes. Next on the playlist is Korn. Gives me more of a creepy vibe. Sets me in a dark, smoky little bar. There’s a man in the corner staring at me with a gleam in his yellowed eyes. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up and I want to leave. Now. But I can’t, because I have to be there. Why? I don’t know-I haven’t written the story yet 🙂 But as you can tell, songs are a major source of inspiration. They take me away to another time and place.

What else inspires me? Food. I love to cook, and I love to eat. Sometimes as I’m cooking I imagine I’m a cook in a manor in the 1800’s. I’m cooking a big southern feast for twenty plus people. Or maybe I’m cooking dinner for my boyfriend for the first time. Or as I’m standing there cooking an escaped convict breaks in and holds me hostage! EEP!! Hahaha My imagination often gets the better of me and I find myself terrified for no reason at all!

I think the last thing I’ll talk about today is men. I know that sounds bad-but hear me out! The male characters are always the easiest for me to come up with. Part of it is because I’m surrounded by men. I have very few female friends on this side of the country so most of my time is spent hanging around my husband and his friends. Often one of the boys will get in a situation and say something that drives me nuts! I constantly think if they’d only listen to me I could fix their lives hahaha (me? a control freak? nooooo…err..yes. very much so!) So I will write a story based on them. It starts out as their story but I “fix” it. I also tend to find my friends a happily ever after. Besides stories about “the boys” I have to ask-what woman doesn’t occasionally fantasize about the drop dead sexy man in the grocery store??? Haha My fantasies just happen to get written down!

Okay, so this was your glimpse into my head. There are many many more things that inspire me, but hopefully this little bit helps to inspire you some too!