More Napkins, Please

Today my guest is author Katherine Grey. Katherine writes historical romance set primary in the Regency period. Her debut novel was released in August, 2011. In today's blog post she tells us how she learned where her story ideas come from.

Have you ever wondered where writers get their ideas? Or as a writer been asked, “Where do you get your ideas for your books?”

The first time I was asked that I floundered around for an answer like a fish caught on dry land. I didn’t know what to say, my mind jumping from one thing to another and discarding them all for fear of sounding like a person who needed some serious mental health care. Maybe, because at the time, I wasn’t really sure where my ideas came from. They were just there, some fully formed, some not so much.

A few weeks after that embarrassing incident, I was in a local restaurant having dinner with a few family members. A loud voice suddenly said, “What do you think I’m an idiot?” I looked behind me and saw a man and a woman sitting two tables away. He looked angry and had his hand wrapped around the woman’s wrist where it lay on the table. She was just staring at him, not saying a word. I turned back around and my sister asked in a low voice, “Do you think we should get the manager?


Before I could say a word, a complete scene formed in my mind. I grabbed the pen from my purse, said yes to my sister, and started scribbling on the nearest paper napkin. I wrote on the front and back of my napkin, my sister’s, and the three other people’s dining with us. I grabbed the stack the server had set on the table as extras as we had a small child with us and everyone knows you never have enough napkins when toddlers are involved. Settings, dialog, and back story, it all flooded into my mind and I wrote furiously trying to capture it all. By the time I finished I had eight napkins covered front and back with the bones of a future story. And yes, my family was staring at me like I’d lost my mind.

It was then that I realized where I get my story ideas from. Sometimes, it’s a snippet of an overheard conversation, a news story, a song, or a line from a movie or television program, or even from a conversation with friends or family members. Of course, I always get their okay to use something from a private conversation first. After that day, I’ve never had to think twice about answering the “Where do you get your ideas” question. I simply say, “everywhere.”

And in case you were wondering about what happened with the couple behind us… They were running lines from a play. According to the manager, they come in all the time to work on their lines while getting something to eat, often giving a few free passes to staff members to come see the latest play they’re in.

Katherine's novel IMPETUOUS can be purchased at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

You can find Katherine on her blog and Facebook.

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