Story Ideas

The main question I get asked as an author relates to where the ideas for my books come from. Some even ask if my characters are based on real people or my plots on something that has happened to me. They seem disappointed when I tell them they are not, but I take it as a compliment that readers think they are. That means, even though the books are not based on a person's life, they seem very real. Everything in them could have happened, and the characters will become some of the readers' best friends if I do my job well. They, without fail, become some of mine.

Dog sledding in Alaska

Certainly, my stories are based on my life experiences and what I know. I would not be able to write them otherwise. We can't relate something we have not thought of or is completely foreign and unfamiliar to us. However, I usually don't even remember  how I learned this. My characters are conglomerates and  mixtures of many people I may have known or heard of but never any one. Like the people you know, each is a unique individual, never duplicating anyone else.

Actually, I find that the books I read, where authors say they are based on real people or real situations, often fall short. It seems that having to stick to a given storyline makes it easy to fall into the rut of just telling, including too much narrative or description, not having good plot elements, or including too much unnecessary information that doesn't move the story along. In a nutshell, they can easily become dry and boring. There are a few exceptions, however. Nonetheless, writing from my imagination and heart is much better.

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