Where does my inspiration come from?

Inspiration comes from everywhere. Sometimes a TV programme – wondering what would happen if the character went left instead of right, or accepted the promotion or declined it. Sometimes it’s in things I see around me. Sometimes it’s my Christmas shelf that simply inspires me. Or a sunset, sunrise or rainbow.

Having said that, we just got back from a holiday in Scotland and there was this road we went up. Up being the operative word. A 1 in 4 hill, 1700ft up a mountain. There will be a story about this…so stay tuned.

This time, I blame Lisa my editor. You see we were having a daft email conversation trying to rename another book and I suggested Waltzing Matilda. Her reply was ‘no because that’s about an Australian who organizes the annual Christmas dance—no that’s not a real book.’

Ten minutes later I emailed back the basic book outline and said ‘it is now.’

Of course it diverted from my basic outline, they always do. The characters refuse to play nicely. Or they decide they have a better plan. The peas under the mattress for one example. That was Leo’s idea and he just wouldn’t drop it. I’m assuming they are dried peas. It’d be a tad messy if they were mushy peas.

And the really Tilly doesn’t care one iota that she’s the main character in a book. She hates dancing and does nothing but eat and sleep. But then she’s a cat!

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