On the Road to New Ideas

Some thoughts on the first day of October…

It’s surprising to think that the year is only three months from ending.  So much has been done, so much is left to do.

Sometimes getting away from it all can refresh the writing mind. This past weekend my brother, sister and sister in law went for a drive in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to look at  the Aspen leaves turning gold and red. It is always a fun way to spend a fall afternoon, especially if you hit the season at its peak.  We were a little late this year but the views can be spectacular.  I came back from the drive energized and ready to plunge back into my writing.

Doing new things is always fun and you can always find something new to discover. I was born in Colorado and lived here most of my life but I had never taken Trail Ridge Road over the top of the Rockies or the Peak to Peak Highway with its spectacular views that leads into Estes Park and to Trail Ridge Road. 

As a writer I am always coming up with story ideas and this trip had more than a few. What about a story set in one of the many small towns we went through? Romance, murder mystery or combination of both?  Maybe even a science fiction adventure where the aliens take over the world starting in a small town. Not to mention the possibility of a haunting by ghosts of the gold rush past or an invasion of zombies…  yes..lots of possibilities there…

 

It’s always good to see a fellow writer get published. Back here in town, I got some good news. My friend and former critique partner, Darla Bartos has just independently published the book she has been working on for several years.  The story is a fast paced mystery with romantic elements set in South Africa. Darla will be my guest for an interview in a couple of weeks, but first here’s a look at her amazing cover. The book is available for sale at Amazon.com and I heartily recommend it.

Here’s a quick blurb: 

A scream pierces the South African night, ending the small Mother of Angels convent into turmoil. Annabelle Chase, a visiting crime reporter from Denver, discovers a beheaded nun, swiftly taking her and the local Detective N. F. Baloyi into a savage confrontation with machete-wielding ritual killers.

This is the first in a series of mystery books that Darla is writing set in South Africa, where she once lived and still visits frequently. I’m looking forward to the next installment. Good luck to Darla, and her new book!

And now it’s time for me to dig in and get back to writing. I need to get some of those new ideas down on the written page and I am anxious to get my writing brain cells exercised before the start of NaNoWriMo next month.