A Common Question... by Christine Bush

                                                        

People often ask me a question about my writing..

                                                     “Where do you get your ideas?”

There is not a simple answer to this one.  Ideas often seem to just float around the universe.  A thought or observation comes to me, and my writer’s brain says.. “What if…” and a story is launched.

Sometimes it’s character driven.  Once I saw a woman in the grocery store, accompanying an elderly person doing their shopping.  I notice the compassion, the kindness, the patience.  And every few moments, I saw her shoulders droop.  I imagine. Beyond that kindness, she is carrying some kind of burden.  What would it be like to be her?  What wish or dream might she have in her life?  A story was launched.

Selling a house years ago put me in touch with the world a real estate.  What kind of chaos might a realtor have to deal with when exploring property with a shady buyer?  My next book had a realtor as a protagonist. 

My own aging process led me to write several novellas with older heroines and heroes.

Working with clients dealing with PTSD inspired a novella to highlight the issue and the hope of healing.

Sometimes a story idea is setting driven.  Driving through the little town where I grew up, I was flooded with memories of some of the comical characters in my childhood.  What a good setting for a mystery!  A new series was developed.

A trip to the coast of Maine inspired a mystery in an old house on the cliffs of the Atlantic Ocean.

A trip to South Carolina inspired a Christmas story set in a beach town.

A few times, I’ve been inspired by a reader question, “Why don’t you write a story about….?”

I never know what will inspire the next story. It’s part of the joy of being a writer!

Inspire me! Let me know what kind of stories you enjoy!

Christine Bush is a USA Today Bestselling author of romance, romantic mystery, and suspense.  She can be found living in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania with her husband and 2 lazy cats, and spending time with her 14 grandchildren.   When she’s not writing, she’s teaching Psychology at a local college, and working with clients in her private practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist. She loves to hear from readers and writers!

 

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