Hobbies, Ideas, and Inspiration from a Writer’s Perspective

When I posted my “Who Are You?” answers on Sunday, I invited you readers to ask any questions I didn’t answer. A few of you did that.

Lavon asked, “Do you have other hobbies, besides writing?”

I wouldn’t call writing a hobby, but my work. However, it is work I can do at home and somewhat set my own schedule. I do have to treat it like a job and be diligent in putting in the time in order to write a book, do the edits and keep up with some of the publicity that the publishers hope will help put my books in front of readers and perhaps into their hands.

I know Lavon also works at a home sewing business and she has to put in those hours in order to meet the orders she gets too. And as she says it is fun to be able to do what you love and make some money at it. I have had plenty of years writing when the money didn’t flow in, but I kept on writing.

As for hobbies, I might count reading as a hobby. I do love to settle down with a good book although writing my own books can limit my reading time. I do also love walking in the woods and fields. And taking pictures. If you follow me on Facebook, you certainly know that’s true. I’m always sharing interesting, or at least I think they are interesting, photos of things I spot on my walks. That might be a cow. Might be a flower. Might even be a spiderweb. Sometimes a snake. Or an old moss covered rock fence with a spring flower in front of it. 🙂 So definitely I have fun taking pictures. That’s a great thing about having a phone in your pocket that will take those pictures. Without having to worry about paying for film or developing that film. You get to see the pictures right away and share them right away, if you want.

Lavon also asked, “What do you do for inspiration for the next book?”
That is sort of a timely question, since I just tried to come up with some new ideas to pitch to my publisher to see if I could write some more stories for them in the next couple of years. The first place I go for inspiration is usually Kentucky history books. Now sometimes, those are books I already own or perhaps history information I track down on the internet.

But a favorite place for research is my local library. If I had a list of all the books I’ve carried home from the library for research for a story, I would have a wide assortment of titles. Sometimes the ideas don’t pan out. Sometimes the history I read lets me know this or that isn’t going to work in a story. For example, when I was planning my last Rosey Corner book, Love Comes Home, I had originally thought of having Kate be a Red Cross worker and go overseas to pass out doughnuts and coffee to the soldiers. But then I read those women had to be a certain age and college graduates. Even if I let Kate go to college, she wasn’t old enough. So I had to rethink the direction of my story.

Other times, whatever I find in those history books is the spark of a story idea that I happily follow up. An example of that would have to be River to Redemption. I came across the story of Louis in a book about unknown Kentucky heroes and I was so impressed by what he did during the 1833 cholera epidemic and how the town of Springfield rewarded him years later, that I wanted to a write a novel on how that might have happened. My story was fiction but the part about Louis was the nugget of truth at the center of my imagined happenings.

I hope that answers your questions, Lavon. I do have a couple of other questions other friends here asked, so I’ll answer them in posts soon. If any of the rest of you have questions, ask away. Question and answer sessions are my favorite part of any talk about books or writing. Questions can branch off and take you in some interesting directions.

What have you always wanted to ask a writer? Or you can answer Lavon’s question and tell us about a hobby you have?