Beach Inspirations: Sorry, Wrong Number

          As discussed before I don’t have to go out looking for inspiration for stories, inspiration comes to me.  I call this one, “Sorry, wrong number.”

          A few days ago my cell phone rang. It wasn’t a number I recognized and so I let it go to voice mail.  The person called back again immediately, so I figured he had the wrong number so I answered it to tell him so.  He said okay. The cell phone rang again from the same number and I let it go to voicemail.  I didn’t bother checking the message.

          That night about nine o’clock the same exact routine happened.  Even though I told the guy he had the wrong number, he still called back.  And again he left a voice mail.

          Curious, I listened to both voicemails.  The tone was angry and threatening.  Yikes, I thought.  Then I reached for a pencil and wrote them down word for word as they inspired an idea for a future novel.  Here they are, maybe they’ll spark a story idea for you, too.  (Caveat:  names have been changed to protect the innocent…and guilty…)

Beach Inspirations: Where I Find Story Ideas

          One of the top questions I get asked by readers is, “Where do you get your inspiration for stories?”  The easier question to answer is, ”Where DON’T I find inspiration?”  Everything I see I wonder what the story behind it is.  It’s all about asking a few questions and then making up the answers.    

          Say you’re walking down the street of your small Midwestern town and notice that the large clock atop the town hall has stopped working.  So you ask yourself when and why did it stop?  A writer might (and one did) wonder if it had been struck by lightening.  Hence the time it had been struck was preserved for future generations to cogitate about.  That begs the question, if someone were to travel back in time and needed to harness a huge amount of energy, they would know what time the clock was struck and arrange to be there when lightning struck.  Hence with a few questions and a little imagination, you could have written Back to the Future.  And you would have made a little bit of money doing so, too.