Where do you get your idea? Wow, that is a loaded question. I get them everywhere. Snatches of overheard conversations, (Itch and Witch a flash fiction), a picture (The Hunger), a writing prompt (Arlo and Arliss), submission request (What the Were?), or a contest category (A Kitty for Chloe)
Itch and Witch about two show cats killing their owner. I was sitting in Starbucks writing when two ladies behind me started talking about their show cats and how pampered they were. The cats had your typical show extra-long pedigree names abbreviated to Itch and Witch and they were upset about being fed regular food instead of a more expensive version. So, they plotted to trip their owner to get another one that would treat them properly. I wrote this one and published it in a online writers forum. It was tough because it had to be a complete story in only 100 words. Try writing that some time. It is a great way to learn economy of words, say the most with the least words. I am not sure it was that good but the other writers seemed to like it.
My husband has a large collection of gaming books with some wonderful art work. When he gets a new one, I always go through it looking at the pictures. In one had a black and white pencil drawing of two men, one holding a shot gun and looking off in the distance the other fishing a toxic waste barrel out of a river. The man holding the shotgun made me think of what he was looking for. Was it threats? Spies? Or law enforcement? What if they were law enforcement? Why would he be on alert? The Hunger is about a supernatural shapeshifting entity that sucks the lifeforce out of a person and the police officer that caught a glimpse of it while the coroner pulled a dead body out of a river.
Arlo and Arliss is a fantasy short story that transports a frail elderly woman, currently living in a nursing home, and her nurse to a fantastical world where she is not so frail after all. The prompt tells you everything you need to know about them.
What the Were? is a short story in the anthology People, Places, and Pets written and published by the writers group Pen & Keyboard Writers. Check out the Amazon link in Books to read that story. A Kitty for Chloe is a short story in the anthology Literary Graffiti: Then I Grew Up also written and published by Pen & Keyboard Writer. Check out the Amazon Link in Books to read that one too.
What about you? Where do you get your ideas?
I will give a quick warning: the comment section is not a place to bash writers or commentators. I will not tolerate what I think of as hate and will delete those comments without warning or remorse. In terms of my blog only, I am God, it is my way or the highway.
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