Where do you get your ideas from?

***Massive thanks to everyone who has been in touch! The slots are all now taken.***

'Where do you get your ideas from?'

I'm prepared to bet ready money that every author out there has been asked this question at least once, if not a hundred times. It always seems to be top of the list, vying for attention with that other old favourite, 'do you earn as much money as JK Rowling?' The answer to that is always a very firm 'no', obviously and not a little unfortunately, but the first question is harder to answer. 

'Where do we get our ideas from?' 

How do our plots, characters and settings descend until they feel so real that it's impossible to remember a time when they didn't exist? Obviously I can't answer for everyone, I can't even explain the answer of my own process all that succinctly for fear that if I pick it apart too much it may well disappear forever, however, I do know that holidays, mini breaks and even day trips can set off a chain of ideas that quickly transform into something far bigger and it is the results of those adventures that will form the backdrop of a brand new feature I am planning to run.

I'm going to be kicking things off myself as it was my week away in an Airstream caravan in sunny Suffolk last year that inspired one of the main threads in my current release, Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage, but after that I'm handing over the reins and inviting you, yes you, to sign up and share any memories of trips you have taken that have had a lasting and creative impact. The outcome doesn't have to be writing related - a new hobby or skill, anything crafty or baking related, a new job, a complete change of life, any seed of an idea that was the instigator for change or trying something new - I want to hear about it all.

I'm hoping that if enough of us are prepared to share our memories and experiences, then we might be one step closer to answering that tricky question - 

'Where do we get our ideas from?'

If you would like to take part, and I'm really hoping that you will, then leave a comment in the box below and I'll be in touch!

 H x