Tangled Tuesday - National Novel Writing Month #NaNoWriMo

It's National Novel Writing Month 

Committed to writing 50,000 words in the 30 days of November?

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun approach to doing just that. 

On November 1, participants can work towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.

NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.

 Many of my author friends are participating and what a great way to kick a novel into high-gear.
I thought I'd post a collection of photos to inspire anyone looking for photo prompts.
A picture is worth 1000 words, right?
All of the photos are mine (except for the old car, skull and apples, and the shoes, which are Creative Commons) and you are welcome to use them on Twitter.  Good luck!

May you be inspired to write The Next Great Novel... 

Writing With Persistent #Ghosts During the Month of #October #amwriting #paranormal

Ahh, the month of October. October is always an interesting time in our house because things go a little haywire. One year, the hot water heater exploded, another year it was my car. Last October, my husband and I both witnessed a weird pocket of electricity bursting in the air. It was like an invisible light bulb exploded in the Otherworld. Who knew they used those? Speaking of, we go through more light bulbs than usual during October. Way more.
This year, I've decided to keep a daily diary, of sorts. I plan to document all the things that go amok in our house. Check back daily, as I'm sure I'll be adding more entries. The craziness is starting a bit early this year, so we're going to start this diary on:


September 24

Feeling unsettled today.  I heard someone walking on our back deck around 3am but when I checked, there was nobody there. It wasn't an animal unless the local raccoons have decided to wear boots and walk bipedally. There's a freaky thought.

Zeus kept barking and growling at empty spots in the living room while I was trying to do some research and work on my opening chapter. Everybody's a critic.
I decided to sage downstairs and went upstairs to do the same. While I was smudging the hallway, I heard heavy footsteps crossing the attic. I considered calling my husband like a damsel-in-distress but knew there's no way anyone could break into our house, much less get into our attic, without Zeus pitching a fit.
Time to man up and check it out. I am woman, hear me roar. (Which is exactly what I did. I figured roaring like a lion was enough to scare any ghost into thinking I was just plain crazy.)

It was spooky up there. No signs of animals or anything else.
Back to writing...

September 25

My coffee maker decided to turn on/off by itself this morning. I'm writing it off as a very thoughtful ghost anticipating my caffeine needs. If they could just figure out how to fill the coffee pod, we'd be set.
Back to writing.

There were strange noises coming from the haunted room upstairs. Both cats and Zeus were sleeping on the couch, so it wasn't them. Zeus knows he's not supposed to be on the couch but I decided to ignore my shameless dog and the noises upstairs because I had too much work to do.

The garage door kept opening and closing at random times this morning. I checked repeatedly to see if something was triggering it and couldn't see a thing. It behaved itself for the rest of the day, so... *shrug*

Of course, just as I drove away to run an errand, it decided to open on its own as a final farewell.

September 27

My daughter mentioned before bed last night that her ceiling fan kept turning on by itself. It was kind of freaking her out so I smudged her room - again. At this rate, I may have to grow my own sage bush.
The living room light kept flickering and going out last night. When I went to fetch a lightbulb, it came on again as if it was just messing with me. I gave up on my late night writing and went to bed early. I can take a hint.

Aaaand...the garage door continued to act up yesterday. I would literally wait for several minutes before I drove away - just to make sure it stayed closed. When I got home, it was wide open again. We'll see if it sorts itself out today. It's getting annoying.

September 28

The hallway light turned on by itself today. Everyone was sitting in the living room. I went to check and...there you go. Weird but I'm getting used to weird at this point.

The lights in the living room keep flickering on/off. At some point, I'll replace the lightbulbs. I'm waiting for them to stay off, which technically gives me a reasonable excuse. Until then, I'll enjoy the light show.

October 3

This morning, I was on my way downstairs to start breakfast. It was dark in the hallway, Nutmeg was on her kitty post and I swear Sushi-Ball was by my feet (I literally saw the shadow form of a cat). I bent to pet him but there was nothing there. When I turned on the hallway light, Sushi-Ball was sitting at the very bottom of the stairs. He ran away from me and was totally freaked out (very unlike him, he never runs away from me). Makes me wonder if Clover was paying a visit--we lost her several months ago. RIP Clover. We miss you.

October 9

There was scratching last night on the sun (or moon, depending on the time of day) roof in our bathroom. I took a flashlight and went to check to see if some animal was trying to dig its way in but there was nothing up there. I literally pointed the flashlight at where the sound was coming from and there was nothing up there. I went back to bed feeling a bit unsettled. My boot-wearing raccoon from September 24th is apparently a "ghost" boot-wearing raccoon, and with huge claws, because the scratching was loud.

I've been having nightmares lately, which I typically don't have. Not "regular" nightmares but seriously scary nightmares where I'll wake with painful adrenaline surging throughout my body. Not cool, dream self. Get it together.

I've felt like someone was following me around the house the past few days. A couple of times I actually felt a breeze behind me as if someone had rushed by. Very disconcerting.

Today, I had to replace a total of three light bulbs. One on my reptile aquarium, one in the bathroom, and one in the living room. Coincidence? I would normally agree but all of them blew within the space of an hour. I verbalized to my house ghosts that I'd appreciate another means of getting my attention. I've heard of ghosts leaving pennies lying about...dollars would be even more appreciated. We'll see if they were listening because that would be pretty cool.

October 15th

I keep my elliptical in the living room corner. Today, one of the pedals went down by itself, and it takes a LOT of effort to move those pedals. But hey, who am I to judge a ghost who needs a bit of exercise?

October 18th

The Halloween lights outside have decided they simply must be on in the daytime, even though they're programmed to turn on only at night. Happy Halloween.
Zeus has been stuck to my heels from the time I rolled out of bed this morning to now (1:01pm). No idea why, but he's acting like an 80-pound scaredy-dog. Poor guy. I don't know what's spooked him but this is where I draw the line, house ghosties. My dog is off-limits.

October 19

Yesterday, it was the dog, today it's the cat. I was writing and heard meowing upstairs. When I went to check, Sushi-Ball was sitting in my daughter's bathroom, meowing at the empty shower. For a moment, I almost thought he was meowing at someone (he's very social and it was that kind of meowing) but of course, the shower is empty. I asked him what was up and he settled down on the carpet and wouldn't budge. He's still up there. Do the ghosts want to take a shower, or are they just chatting with my cat? *shrugs* Back to writing.

Our back door in the daytime

October 20

The light in the living room (see September 27th) continues to garner for our attention by sporadically flickering on/off. It NEVER does this any month but October.

Our outside Halloween lights randomly turn on/off. Again, they've been programmed to only turn on at night but...

Last night, I saw a white form run past the back door. It was about the size of a person, so it startled me. When I went to check, there was no one our back porch. They would have had to literally hurl themselves over the railing and then contend with the fact our backyard gate is locked.

October 24

Yesterday, my daughter said Zeus started barking at her and then the stairs. It kind of freaked her out, especially because earlier, she said she'd heard walking around in the attic. I checked but, as usual, the attic was empty.

Zeus was acting weird this morning. He suddenly began to carry his bone around, whining all over the house and then wanted to take it outside. He NEVER does that. In fact, he hasn't given this bone the time of day since I bought it for him several months ago. He'd only do something like that if there were another dog around.
Sooo, either Jasmine's spirit stopped by for a visit or we have a new ghost dog. (Jasmine was our dog who passed away last year. We miss her.)

So, I'm bringing this post to a close. It's November 5th and the light in the living room spontaneously stopped flickering once Halloween passed, the garage door stopped malfunctioning (and we didn't do a thing to fix it) the fan and lights in my daughter's bedrooms stopped turning on/off, and my cats and dog have all stopped acting strangely. The scratching sounds coming from our bathroom sunroof ceased and my elliptical seems to be behaving itself. Probably because it misses me. The footsteps in the attic? They occur throughout the year but I haven't heard a single footstep this past week. Funny how everything just...STOPS...once the calendar page turns to November. I have no explanation for that other than the old belief that the "veil" between our world and the Otherworld thins around October. Maybe there's something to that belief.

Have a good Thanksgiving!

Thoughtful Thursday: My Time Away...

I hope you've been enjoying my guest authors these past two weeks! I've had a wonderful time getting to know them and needed the time off from my blog to finish up THE ISLAND. My kiddos are finally back to school after a super-long winter break. I was able to get some edits/writing done because they slept so late, however, writing in an empty house is always easier. Have a great Thursday!

#Paranormal Wednesday-The Attic

Photo courtesy of billnwmsu via Flickr

We have an attic. To most, this would be unremarkable. But to me...it's a distraction. Sometimes, I hear thumping up there when I'm alone and writing. I used to make the climb to investigate and see what it was. After doing this countless numbers of times, I stopped. There's nobody up there. Not a bird, not an animal...nothing. That I can see.

The attic was empty when we moved in, save for one writer's reference book. Ironic. Out of the three people who owned the house before us, none of them were writers. Maybe that's why it got left behind. Or maybe it was a house gift...from the Attic. I'm tempted to take my computer up there and write in the hopes the space will inspire something spooky. Or at least to show the Attic how much I appreciate it's thoughtfulness at leaving me a writer's reference book.

Why do people find attics so creepy? It's a convenient place where forgotten things are stored away. True, the space is usually dusted with cobwebs. And true, sometimes shadows lurk in the corners. That must be it. Attics are similar to basements. When I was a kid, one of the houses we lived in had a basement filled with shadows. I wasn't a fan. The fact that the house was haunted (the previous owner had passed away) made it all the more challenging. But, back to my attic...

If I thought the thumping up there was an animal or bird, I would go out of my way to make sure they could find a way out. But it's not. It's Nothing. Not in the sense that it doesn't matter, but in that I can do nothing about it. Does that make sense? Regardless, Nothing needs to keep it down up there because I'm trying to write.

#Paranormal Wednesday-The Haunting World of Dreams

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Emmanuel Flores Tarello
via Flickr

Dreams are important when it comes to my writing. I've dreamed characters, plots and scenes. I'll wake with sentences and full blown paragraphs. I've dreamed in other languages and had prophetic dreams. Likewise, dreams pop up a lot in my novels. My characters often receive messages, warnings and are haunted by their dreams and nightmares.

I find it interesting there are many different types of dreams. When it comes to the paranormal community, these dreams become very complex indeed! Here are a few categories to ponder.

Types of Dreams

Nightmares - upsetting and vivid dreams involving negative emotions. Some nightmares can lead to sleep deprivation and physical illness. In the paranormal world, there are some that believe nightmares are caused by negative entities. 

Night terrors - a dream that causes fear and dread. The dreamer will awaken in terror with no recall of dream content. Night terrors and sleepwalking usually run in families. Since the dreamer may report seeing people, animals or other entities in the room upon awakening, the paranormal community suggests these dreams may be supernaturally induced.

Belief Dreams – Dreams, prophetic or otherwise, that have shaped religion and belief systems across the world. Many prophets in history have reported receiving messages from the divine in their dreams.

Problem-Solving Dreams – Dreams that deliver a message or aide the sleeper in overcoming a problem in their waking life. Some believe that such messages are delivered by a messenger such as a guardian spirit, angel or someone who has passed on.

Recurring Dreams – A sign that we aren't paying attention to the message given. Ignoring the dream may lead to unresolved issues. In the paranormal world, recurring dreams are thought to be important messages from those who have passed on. May go hand-in-hand with problem-solving dreams.

Lucid Dreams – An awareness that the dreamer is in a dream state. The dream can be manipulated by the dreamer. May lead to out-of-body experiences.

Mutual Dreams –When the dreamer shares the same dream or experience with another person.

Psychic Dreams – Dreams in which premonitions take place. The paranormal community suggests these dreams are due to the dreamer having psychic powers or receiving messages from a messenger (ie. guardian spirit, angel or someone who has passed on).

Sleepwalking - performing activities that are usually performed during a state wakefulness. They can be as simple as sitting up in bed or walking to the bathroom; or as complex as cooking, eating driving, or even homicide. My grandmother used to sleepwalk in the forest around her farm house. This was frequent and lasted well into her teenage years. Her brother would follow to make sure she didn't get into trouble!

Dreams with Recurring Dream People – Similar to recurring dreams, these dreams are populated by people the dreamer hasn't met in waking life. The paranormal community has several explanations for this, including guardian spirits, angels or those who have passed on. I have two recurring dream people that pop up on a regular basis. Likewise, I experience a recurring place (and dream) every couple of months.

Tangled Tuesday-Chaos, Writing and Malfunctioning Televisions

Didn't get much sleep last night. I'm working on the ending to THE ISLAND, my work in progress, and trying to figure out how my protagonist is going to get out of her "situation." My two demon antagonists are running rampant in my head, the television keeps turning itself on to a religious channel that I don't watch (which is kind of creeping me out) and my dogs are asking to be let out every minute to bark at the yard. I guess that's about as "Tangled Tuesday" as you can get!

Have a good one, folks.

#Paranormal Wednesday-What Lies in the Trees

I'm going to toe the line between paranormal in nature and my writer's brain on overdrive. I know you'll forgive me. Last week, I went on a writing vacation to pin down the location and feel for the book I'm working on, tentatively titled THE ISLAND. My agenda was to take an airplane up to Canada, a ferry to one particular island, then kayak to another, smaller island.

It was quite the trek but totally worth it. I was able to get a feel of being on a remote island--which was crucial for this novel I'm working on. Plus, I spent the day exploring and doing what I love to do--hike.

About two hours into my hike I came across a huge tree in the middle of a grove. Its center was burnt-out and the tree stuck out like a sore thumb (there was no fire damage to any of the surrounding trees). Upon examining the tree closer, I was surprised to find a child's tricycle inside. A child's tricycle out in the middle of nowhere...on a tiny little island. A definite WTH?? moment and one that sent my writer's brain in a thousand different directions.
I combed the area to look for a child but found nothing. No adults, no children--there was literally nobody around. Hm. I walked back to the tree, took a picture of the outside and continued with my hike.
That evening when I got back to the mainland, I downloaded my photos onto my computer.

Now, this is probably a trick of the light but I didn't see it when I took the photo. This is the outside of the burnt-out tree. There's a spot on the tree trunk (where the arrow is pointing) that looks like a tribal mask. It kind of brought chills to my spine in conjunction with the tricycle and my location. But again, this could be my writer's brain in overdrive.

What do you think?

**When I was writing this post, my daughter pointed out yet another face inside the tree (where the arrow is pointing. Scroll up to get a bigger picture). At the risk of being one of those people who see the Virgin Mary in their oatmeal--I'm also going to figure this may be a trick of the light and perhaps "just" the way the wood was burnt. One could even go so far as to consider that both masks were carved by a local.
Regardless, I found the whole thing intriguing.

Frightening Friday-Behind You

Photo courtesy of Seemann via Morguefile

You've probably experienced it before--that feeling of someone standing behind you...when there isn't. Even though there's nothing visible there, you find yourself glancing over your shoulder repeatedly. Are you feeling the need to check now? Go on. I won't tell.

I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for it, but no matter. Someone is standing behind you and there's not a darn thing you can do about it. Now, they're following you up the stairs. And now, into the bedroom. Aaaand....yep, the bathroom too. Sorry. You may want to make that shower a short one. And cover your naughty bits too.

So, when does this feeling happen the most? For me, it's when I'm writing. I always feel like someone is standing over my shoulder, reading my "stuff." I hate that. I don't even let my family read my "stuff" before it's published. But the feeling is there and I've learned to live with it.

When do you have that "look behind you" feeling?

Thoughtful Thursday-The Writing Bug

My daughter has caught the writing bug. I swear I didn't write in her general direction or leave my writing around for her to catch. Perhaps it was unavoidable, for we share the same house. She sits in the corner for hours, typing away, a look of intense concentration on her face. Those that see fit to bother her, run the risk of being incinerated by lasers shooting from her eyes. Okay, maybe I jest about that. Maybe.

While I can only work on one book at a time, she boasts that she's working on no less than 14 books right now. According to her, she goes from book to book, depending on her mood. Show off. If I tried to do that, not only would my characters have a hissy-fit, but they would become hopelessly tangled like a ball of string. One book at a time, thank you very much.

Sometimes, my daughter and I bounce ideas off each other. It's interesting to hear her thoughts and what input she offers to my own. Invaluable, in fact. Last week, I hit a wall with the book I'm working on. Try as I might, my characters remained tight-lipped about what they planned to do next. Usually, I wait until they begin speaking to me again--in the shower or the middle of the night when I'm sleeping. You know, an opportune time. This time however, I decided to talk to Miss 14 Books and see what she thought. It took exactly five minutes to break my wall down to rubble. Take that, characters. I know exactly what happens next and I don't have to wait for you tell me. Guess I don't feel so bad about sharing my writing bug after all.

Now, if only I could manage 14 books at a time...

Tangled Tuesday-Pinterest

Yep. I caved and joined Pinterest. Truth be told, I joined last year but became so afraid of exploiting somebody's photos and infringing copyrights, I stopped. Last night, I was hit with the idea of using Pinterest as an author tool. I'm quite visual and decided to group and arrange my books and characters onto their own boards. As long as I stick to my own photos, those for public use and from Morguefile, I think that satisfies my wariness of stealing copyrights.

I love my inspiration boards. I'll definitely use them in the process of writing. The pictures are always in my head, but it will be nice to let them out for some fresh air.

So, last night I was up until midnight "arranging" and pinning things like a crazed maniac. If you have the time and inclination, hop on over and say hello. And if you're on Pinterest, I'd love to take a peek at what inspires you!

Artistic Solitude...or, Go Away, I'm Writing.

Oh, happy day! I’ve finished my next supernatural horror novel, STRUCK. One more go-through, and it’s ready to send off the publisher. 

I’ve been writing in fits and starts and grabbing writing time when I can. I love my family and wouldn’t trade them for the world, but, oh my gosh, we’ve been on a busy schedule this past year. It’s a schedule I sometimes find extremely frustrating as an author. Especially when I require a HUGE block of time to read my manuscript from beginning to end—the only way to assure myself of a smooth, cohesive, storyline.

I’ve hinted to my husband, who puts up with much, that it might be nice if I was able to book a hotel room for one night. It would allow me this final time I need, and with absolutely no distractions. No dogs to play door-slave to, no cats asking to be fed/pet/cleaned-up after, no dishes that need doing, no floors rolling with fur balls, no kiddos to be picked up from school and driven here to there, no math homework to help with (ugh), and no breakfast, lunch and dinners to make. I love these things in my life, but when it comes to writing?
Absolute solitude with no distractions would be ideal.

His answer to my hotel request was, as expected, a reminder that hotels can be expensive, save for the sleezy ones, and an offer to look after the kiddos while I went upstairs to sequester myself in our bedroom. 

Sigh. I love him for that, but… Another writer may understand why this doesn’t work. In the midst of wrestling with my protagonist’s decent into madness, my antagonist’s evil complexities, or my layers of Otherworld, there will be a point where my family will pop in to say hello, need to use our bathroom for some bizarre reason (we have three), ask me if I want food (go away, not now), or during a coffee run (more crucial than food, folks), ask me that dreaded question, “How’s the writing going?” 

Forgive me if I snarl and bite, or perhaps stare at you like you’ve spoken some foreign language that I can’t possibly understand, but, “Go away, I’m writing.”  I would be civil and answer you but I’ve pushed all my words and emotions through my fingertips and have none left to push through my lips.

So, I’m left with the possibility of grabbing an all-nighter while my husband is on a business trip, begging one of my pet-sitting clients to do a trade; free pet-sitting if I can spend the night at their house (which may or may not work), or shelling out $40 for a night of solitude at some sleezy motel. 

I’m thinking the sleezy motel may work just fine.

Sewing Like a Sailor

So, sometimes my Mom Stuff takes precedence over my Writerly Self.

For the past month, I have a long-dreaded sewing project that’s been on my “to-do” list. It’s right up there with cleaning out my closets and dusting the attic, actually.

My older daughter is a fan of all things manga and cosplay. There’s a huge event coming up in May and she’s decided that she wants to dress up as an Assassin’s Creed character. And I’ve agreed to sew the costume.

*face palm*

Why do I set myself up for these things? I’m a writer, not a fashion designer. I write about ghosts and demons and things that go bump in the night. I write about what’s under your bed, and what creeps in from the Otherworld. And I have minions. I don’t sew. 

Correction-I can sew, but I hate it with a passion. The last time I sewed something, it was a squid costume. Yes, you read that correctly. When my daughter was in Kindergarten, the class was encouraged to dress up as their favorite character from their favorite book. While the other six-year-olds were dressing up as Angelina Ballerina or Batman, my daughter decided she wanted to dress up as the giant squid from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I was cursing like a sailor trying to sew that baby up. But it rocked, if I do say so myself. 

So, back to Assassin’s Creed. We went to the material store and leafed through countless catalogues looking for a pattern that remotely resembled what you see in the photo. The closest we could come, was a costume if you were dressing up as Jesus. Yeah.

After we decided that was as good as it gets, it took us an hour to peruse the countless bolts of fabric to find the right material. And then, there were the notions…the bits and bobs that would make the fine details. By the time the pattern, the material and the notions were purchased, the costume ended up being roughly $50 total. Ouch. When we got home, I saw that the jacket also requires interfacing.

Off to cut, pin, sew and curse. My minions would be proud.

Swearing on Paper

I’ve been working on my next novel these past few weeks and the days have positively flown by. This is a good thing, of course, because eventually I will hit a wall and fall into a heap of burnt-out exhaustion. But for now, the writing is flowing. What has been interesting to me is the direction this latest novel is taking. Characters that were intended to be protagonists, have turned evil, the storyline is spinning off into some bizarre but wonderful tangent and there are times my fingers can’t keep up with the chattering in my head.

In addition to that, there happens to be (gasp!) swearing.

I’m usually quite conservative when it comes to swearing in my novels. In my YA fantasy Pradee, there is no swearing for obvious reasons—it’s YA literature. In Between, my paranormal fantasy coming from Musa Publishing, I found that I enjoyed a bit more leeway as far as how my characters expressed themselves. Still, you simply won’t find an f-bomb in that novel. It just never came up.

I’m definitely not a prude. I have no problem with my daughters expressing themselves freely at home, as long as they are mindful in public. I, myself, have been known to have quite the mouth on me when I get angry. But for some reason, I have a very hard time typing out...swear words.
However, the line has been crossed in this latest work. And I swear (no pun intended) that it’s not my fault.

First, let me say that this novel has taken several twists and turns and has gone into a direction I hadn’t intended. That happens sometimes, well, a lot of times actually. I always tell people that my characters tell me what to write, not vice versa. And apparently, the characters in this novel have no issues with dropping four-letter words here and there. It hasn’t been excessive, but they keep popping up on my page, unbidden. Last week, I found myself deleting these expletives, but gosh darn it, they kept coming back.

I was thinking this morning about why it bothered me so much to type those verboten words. It’s not like it bothered me to read them in other people’s novels. Perhaps it stemmed from my upbringing. My mother was pretty strict when it came to language. If my dad or I slipped up with a “damn it” or “crap,” I was immediately punished and my dad got the silent treatment—sometimes for hours. My mother always said that a lady never swore and neither did a true gentleman.  She was a bit old-fashioned. I am a lady, but yes, sometimes I swear like a sailor.

Just not on paper.

But here I was, swearing on paper and feeling guilty about it. There was one particular instance where I typed out a four-letter word and deleted it five times before it fell out of my own mouth and I just left it.

Why are swear words so taboo? They’re just words, after all, and they all seem to be in the dictionary. I decided to look up the history of profanity and came across this; “Swearing and cursing are modes of speech existing in all human languages. They perform certain social and psychological functions, and utilize particular linguistic and neurological mechanisms.” Well, there you go. I have a minor in Anthropology, I should know that. I was performing a social and psychological function by allowing my characters to express themselves as freely on paper as they were expressing themselves in my head.  I also read that, “Swearing is a widespread but perhaps underappreciated anger management technique.” My mother did have some issues there, maybe she just needed to swear more (I’ll get struck by lightning for that one, I know, I know). I went onto to read that the Bible, Shakespeare and the earliest known writings also contained swearing. Icing on the cake, boys and girls. If Shakespeare did it, I’m in. I do remember reading Shakespeare in university and coming across quite a bit of colorful language. It just happened to be language we no longer use.

So, I will continue to let my characters have their freedom and will try my best not to cringe when they toss something out there that causes my fingers to freeze and stutter.

After that, however, I promise to make them go stand in the corner for not behaving like ladies and gentlemen.

Writing on...writing

Bear with me this week because I really hit a wall as to what to post today. I spent a good fifteen minutes staring at a blank computer screen and imagining words just appearing there, as if by magic. 

Ironic, because I’ve had a really good week and the novel I’m working on is coming along quite nicely. Blog posts, however, are always more of a challenge. Especially now that I’ve decided to post every Sunday.

Last night, I gave up on my empty computer screen to stare out the window. Where did other writers get their ideas from? Not for their blogs, because they’re supposed to be easy, but for their novels. And since it sounded like a dandy distraction from writing my blog post, I decided to look up several of my favorite writers to see if they’ve answered that question.

Where do you get your ideas from?

Robert Holdstock, who wrote my favorite novel Mythago Wood, said in an interview, “Everything grows. I have an idea, I have some characters in my head, and when I get an idea of what it is I want to say, I start going for it. I do, I'm not afraid to say, write out of chaos.”

Garth Nix, author of Sabriel, states, “I think inspiration comes from all over the place...I doubt that it varies depending on what you write, in a sense. It's all raw material that goes into your head and you make up what you will.”

Neil Gaiman? (And yes, I always have to quote Neil because he’s plain awesome) Neil says, “I make them up, out of my head. You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we're doing it.”

I munched on these interviews for awhile and reflected on where my ideas came from.

Mythology inspired me. I love mythology, all kinds of mythology. The stories from different cultures are fascinating. Everything is there, the antagonists, the protagonists, the life struggles, the magic and intrigue. It’s like a treasure trove of ideas that have been filtered and passed down through the ages to be shared. 

Did I feel like writing a blog post about mythology? Eh, not today. I thought some more.

Sometimes, I’d get ideas that came to me “out of the blue.” You know it’s been an “out of the blue” day when I had notes scrawled all over my hands and arms because I never seemed to have paper when I needed it. I checked my arms and hands. Unfortunately, they were as blank as my computer screen.

There were other times when my dream people spoke to me. Have you ever had a lucid dream that stuck with you for days or even weeks? Those dreams are begging to be turned into stories. My personal challenge is when my dream people chose to speak to me in a different language. And yes, that happens often--since I was a kid, in fact. I know on some level it’s a language, but I can’t understand what the heck they’re saying. I usually spend the next day looking up words or a sentence that stuck in my head, spelling it phonetically (which doesn’t always work). The last time this happened, I spent hours trying to decipher a phrase and the closest I could come was, “pennipotenti es volatilis per parietis” which seemed to be Latin for, “the birds are flying through the wall.” Yep. My dream person must have been messing with me that night. (It did lead me to taking a free online course to study Latin, however. If you’re interested, I put the link at the end of this post.)

But if the translation of a dream phrase makes sense, a story could come from that. I thought about my last dream. Something about dyeing my hair blue and riding a train barefoot...we won’t even go there.

Reading interviews from various writers was interesting though. I was happy to read that, they too, shared days in which blank computer screens mocked them. Holdstock asserted that he liked to think of those days as a “writer’s pause” and not a block. “The world is there, but sometimes the words aren't. I don't try to overcome it.” Nice. I could relate to that.

Gaiman lucidly states, “Blaming “Writer’s Block” is wonderful. It removes any responsibility from the person with the “block.” It gives you something to blame, and it sounds fancy. But it’s probably more honest to think of it as a combination of laziness, perfectionism and Getting Stuck. If you’re being lazy, don’t be. If you’re being a perfectionist, don’t be. And if you’re stuck, figure out where the story went off the rails, or what you got wrong, or where you need to go deeper, or what you need to add to make it work, and then start writing again.”

Wise words and a nice kick in the pants. I’ll have to refer to that when I’m banging my head on my computer because I’ve deleted pages and pages of text while lamenting that I’ve wasted six hours of my life.

Or trying to come up with something to write in my blog.

Seriously, though, if I have a writer’s block when writing fiction, I usually sleep on it. By morning (or several mornings later) something comes and it all makes sense again. Jumping on my trampoline and running with my dog, those seem to work too but take more effort.

But it was Saturday night and I needed to come up with something now, I whined to myself.

I turned my attention again to the blank computer screen and began, “Bear with me this week because I really hit a wall…”

Tonight, my Latin speaking dream people will probably be talking to me all night long--and maybe next week my post won’t be as difficult.

Sources for interview quotes:

http://falcatatimes.blogspot.com/2009/08/interview-robert-holdstock.html

http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au/podcast/garthnix.htm

http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Essays/Essays_By_Neil/Where_do_you_get_your_ideas%3F

http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/18848712919/reposted-as-something-that-can-be-reblogged-on

National Archives Beginners Latin: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/tutorial/default.htm