Writing inspiration–where does it come from? I believe it is everywhere. It is in the casual conversations we have every day. It may come from children or from adults, from friends or from strangers. It may be something funny or profound that someone just drops into a conversation. When I hear one of those little gems of wisdom, I feel the wheels in my head start to spin.
Here is an example. I was doing a book signing in Dodge City, Kansas at the awesome Boot Hill Museum. A gentleman stopped by my table, and we were talking about the fifth book in my Home on the Range Series, Up the Western Trail, Point the Tongue North. That book follows a trail drive from Texas to Dodge City in 1879. I worked hard to make the geography and history I included as accurate as possible. In the process of talking about the route and the difficulties the cowboys had to overcome, he commented. “Yeah, our places are so far apart out here that we all have our own tomcats.” He watched me somberly and waited for me to respond. I laughed and he added with a grin, “You know what I mean!”
I did know what he meant. Tomcats are known for their roaming tendencies. His joke insinuated that the farms and ranches in his area were too far apart for even a roaming tomcat to search for new girlfriends! I loved that comment. After he left, I wrote it down and you will see it used in my eleventh novel!
Writing isn’t hard. I think we just need to slow down and listen to get our creative juices recharged. I love talking to people and hearing their stories. And many of those stories are shared in my books–sometimes as they were told, sometimes with a new twist. The people I meet and talk to as I roam though this life–those people are my inspiration.
