There is something quintessential about the image of a writer in a garret, and with having lived in many two-story dwellings, the term “garret” was easy to adopt, although not architecturally accurate. I may have posted once about when we were looking to move from a three-bedroom to a four bedroom, a neighbor was puzzled. “It’s just the two of you at home, why do you need four bedrooms?” I immediately replied with, “Separate offices.” Sharing an office brings distinct problems for us and we only do that for as short a period as possible. I do acknowledge that having the wireless environment in the house means that if I am so inspired, I can carry the laptop to wherever, but my upstairs office really is set up well, especially after my husband designed and built a set of bookshelves when I recently re-organized.
In speaking of writing, that of course, also involves inspiration – where it comes from and how it develops into characters or story lines. Although other writers will be different, I spend time constantly watching and listening – picking up bits and pieces that might be useful someday. My short story, Flight Plan, is a perfect example. I was on a lengthy delay in Atlanta during one trip and not surprisingly spent extra time in the Sweetwater Brew Pub. On that same trip I had the occasion to pass an evening with a lesbian, Wiccan couple. Really, how does one not want to use that particular tidbit to open a story? Voila!, the story of “Flight Delay” emerged. From a character perspective, I mostly do composites of people that I’ve met, except times when I have to create a really bad person, and for that, I often turn to true crime shows. Those are quite useful sources for not only characters, but also methodology for investigations and murders. As I mentioned in a tweet one day, My Favorites, can have an odd collection of sites where I have been checking ideas for scenes. I have taken off the Meth Lab ones, but have left the Meaning of Aura Colors, and naturally, the Yacht Broker site. I think the one on surveillance and nigh-vision equipment is still listed and those came in handy for False Front which I will discuss in a future post.
