Tag: inspiration

Posted on by — Leave a comment

happy Wednesday

Wednesdays are hard, aren’t they?  It’s all hands on deck to push this week up over that hump and we’re already tired from Monday and Tuesday, so it feels like twice as much work.

Today, in San Francisco, the air is wet.  It isn’t exactly raining, but the fog lies low and it feels like walking through a raincloud.  That doesn’t help with the whole feeling like getting the work done.  It feels like the kind of day I’d like a fire in a nice fireplace, a cuddly kitty, a cup of tea and a good book to read.

But, that won’t pay the bills.  So, here I am in the office, getting a head start on the day.  I’m the first one here most of the time, which means I spend most of the first hour alone.  It’s great for catching up on emails, and finishing up the loose ends from the day before.

As luck would have it, this particular Wednesday is your last chance to jump in on the two giveaways I’m hosting over on Goodreads.  I’m offering up two signed copies of both of my books.  To enter, just pop on over here or over here (or do both).

I’m going to go refill my coffee cup and see about a re-write on some technical documentation before the office gets busy.  Hope your Wednesday is a day filled with kindness and the good coffee.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

the joys of public transportation

As a writer, I am a people watcher.  I love finding spots where I can sit an unobtrusively observe the world around me.  I find the lives of others endlessly fascinating, even in the most mundane activities.

Each person has their own story.  Some of them more than one.  They all come from somewhere.  They all are thinking about things I can’t know about.  I live in an area where people watching can be a very rich sport.

Some of the most stand out people though are those I observe on my daily commute.  I live east of San Francisco, and I take the BART train into the city 3 to 5 days a week.  Most of the time the ride in is quiet.  Everyone is busy catching up on Facebook and email or trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep before the day really begins.

The ride home though…that is a treasure trove of people watching.  Young mothers with small children, teenagers with their backpacks and music banging out of their earphones, construction workers looking tired and worn, business people in their suits….it’s like a microcosm of the Bay Area.

When it’s really crowded, like the scene above, and my agoraphobia ratchets up,  I pick out a single face and I start to tell myself a story about that person’s life.  That guy in the suit looking like he just spent an hour at the gym…it was his third interview that week, but so far nothing had panned out and he was tired, exhausted really, but he knew he needed something better.  He’s crammed into that corner trying to study the text book in his hands so he’ll be prepared for class that evening, after he goes home and feeds his baby and kisses his wife and promises her that things will get better.

Some of those little stories create characters so vivid for me that they end up in a book I’m writing. There are a few of them in Through Shade and Shadow.  Can you spot them?

Posted on by — Leave a comment

can you put a price on love?

I have had a Patreon account for a while, but didn’t really put any effort into it because I wasn’t really sure I wanted to pursue it, and what I could offer as rewards, but I’ve spent the last few days working over there to get something set up.

You can find me at https://www.patreon.com/nataliejcase.

I don’t expect this to make me a fortune, but I am hoping it will help me put aside some money to invest in books for signing events and the like, as well as save up to be able to afford voice talent to record audio books.

My rewards levels are all pretty low, starting at $1.  At $3, you get first look at the weekly micro/short story.  I will be writing one per week to some prompt and they will get posted first to my Patreon blog.  I will migrate them over here after a couple of weeks, but they will be first for my Patrons.

Most of the levels are under $20, with varying rewards.  So, if you like what I do enough to consider coming along to play, pop on over and have a look.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

where do we go from here?

I’m sure a lot of writers get repeatedly asked the question about where our inspiration comes from, how do story ideas start. I can’t answer for others, but for me they literally come from everywhere.

A snippet of overheard conversation, a random image, a song lyric, a picture can all feed my imagination. Even random words can be the catalyst for a poem or story.

I see almost everything like it’s a starting point, a place to begin a new journey or carry on with a journey I’m already on.  I feel a need to create a story for things, like this fellow on this road in this picture.

wheredoigo

There’s a reason he’s there. There’s a reason he’s walking and walking on this road.  What’s behind him?  What lies ahead?  What kind of person is he? What does he want?

Lots more questions of course, but it starts me off and I immerse myself into the questions…

Theodore Dane walked out the door one morning in early spring, his hood pulled up, his hands in his pockets.  The screen door slammed shut behind him and his worn sneakers scuffed along the gravel driveway as he walked to the quiet, two-lane country road that ran past the house where he had lived his whole life.  There was nothing left holding him to the place but memories. He turned right and set off down the road.  The hills rose in the distance and somewhere beyond them was a world that was still waking up, a world that he had only glimpsed through books and the rare treat of time to watch the television.  A world he was ready to fall into, sink or swim.

I think provocative images provide some of the best story inspiration.  I think maybe I’ll start posting a story image and original short story once a week.  Have an image you’d like me to tell you a story about?  Email me at natalie@nataliejcase.com.