Copyright 1999
Any writer you ask will tell you they come from everywhere. Anything can trip your imagination and send it spiraling off into new directions and dimensions. In my case, it was attending my niece's wedding.
The scene was straight out of Modem Bride. The late afternoon sun touched the lawn, gardens and house with gold. The imposing fountain splashed happily into it's pool, while dozens of white and gold table cloths fluttered around the legs of round tables dotting the wide expanse of lawn. April in central California is a magical time, a perfect time for a garden wedding. . .
And I was off and running with a new story idea! I had been steeped in a week of intense California atmosphere-, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Monterey, the San Juaquin valley, the mountains. I bought a small spiral bound notebook and near ignored my host sister as I busily scribbled down a rough outline, character profiles, posed questions, changed the characters, and dredged up more conflict. I was still writing as I flew back across the country to Jacksonville.
Home again, I gave the notebook to a critique partner and asked her opinion. She sent it back with comments, questions and warnings about yet more conflict. (I hate conflict and must work hard to impose it upon my characters!) I fleshed out both characters and conflict, sent a list of questions about San Francisco to my sister and put the notebook in my "story idea" file.
But what exactly was it that inspired the story? Basically, two things; the fountain and the elegant old homes still found not only in San Francisco, but all over California. The fountain was carved stone, very old and very elaborate. It had been salvaged from an estate that was being torn down. It's new home was the patio of a '20's mission style home that had been near gutted and lovingly restored.
Real estate anywhere in California costs the sun and moon, but what if a young woman inherited such a gracious old home? And what if it's attic yielded up a treasure of memories about her ancestors who had lived, loved and reared their families in that home? Those "what if's" alone, told me the title of such a story must be "Legacy of Love".
It may be a year or more before I can actually sit down and write the story. But I've found that I can "re-heat" my enthusiasm by rereading my notes, my critique partner's comments and any research I've done. Fortunately, I've been to California a number of times, and although most of that time was spent in shipyards and aboard ships, I took time to sightsee and soak up the local ambiance, sample the cuisine of the area and even try out my very rusty Spanish in Tijuana.
So where do your ideas come from? I'm afraid the answer is the same -anywhere. Who knew my niece's wedding would inspire a book?