The Origin of Ideas

Where do Ideas come from? Yes, the word is worthy of a capital "I." :)

After reading my stuff, some of my [non-writing, real-life] friends asked me where those ideas came from or even, as one of them pointed out, "how do you know there's condensation that drips down the beer bottle?" To which I kind of shrugged, nonplussed, and said, "I don't know - it just looks like that in my head."

In terms of process, I'm definitely a plotter. I visualize the general steps that need to occur for my boys to get from Point A to Point HEA. ;) But beyond that and for details, I guess things just sort of...happen?  My ideas come from everyday life mixed with my natural questioning of "what if?" I think of these characters that I like (that I really REALLY REALLY like, hehe) and then I figure out...what if they got together? What if they found each other in this crazy world of six billion people and discovered that they were just kind of...well...perfect for each other?

As for specifics, those ideas just come from life mixed with imagination.  I brainstorm while massaging shampoo into my scalp or staring into my bathroom sink with a toothbrush in my mouth. I went out to Hawaii for a wedding-slash-vacation, and I dreamed up...well, you'll have to see what happens in my latest WIP. ;) I see post-game locker room interviews, and...let's just say I speculate, as I'm sure you'll notice in my Man-to-Man Coverage stories. I come up with names while I'm hanging out with my friends.  Anecdotal side note: John Damian Sloane, the sweetheart Olympic diver from my story "Into the Deep" in the Going for Gold anthology, received his middle name after I drooled over -- I mean MET *ahem ahem* -- Damian, the stunningly attractive Team Red-and-Gold knight whom our group was rooting for at the Medieval Times during my friend's birthday party. Basically, I live life and am fortunate enough to have ideas and inspiration appear.

That's how it works for me, anyway. I wonder how it works for everyone else...?

Doing her nails and figuring out who's *ahem* doing whom,
NJ