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I often wonder where authors get their ideas for stories.  Today, I am going to tell you where my story ideas came from.

I love watching Ghost Hunters, the Dead Files and Long Island Medium.  While watching Ghost Hunters one evening I started thinking about how a romance could be woven into a story about a Ghost Hunter.  I knew I wanted it set in Bend, OR. I like all the different coffee houses in town, so I had to include one, Backporch Coffee Roasters.

I researched unexplained happenings in Bend, OR. I found some documented haunted buildings and even a grave yard that has unexplained blue orbs. These facts were added into my story for local flavor.

It was interesting coming up with these ideas and doing the research.

What interesting facts have you found about your town?

16 Days And Counting!

16 Days and Counting by Judith Ashley

At another time in the not too distant past, I had about 16 days before an original short story was due up at Free Reads from the Genre-istas and Friends. I was going through my normal process which is to wait until a story idea pops into my head complete with setting and characters who speak to me. In the meantime, I was sitting on my couch waiting for the full moon to appear in the window to the left of my fireplace.

Judith Ashley

I was in an optimistic mood because the sky was clear and I knew I'd be able to see Grandmother Moon as she passed by. Since she isn't a speedy traveler of the night sky, I waited a book in hand. From time to time I glanced down and read a bit but I was much more enchanted with the view out the small window.

Before Grandmother Moon is even visible, her light creeps over the glass and when the angle is right in to the room. That is all part of the magic for me...watching what has been for ages upon ages reveal itself to me time after time (assuming the clouds stay away).

And then There It Was!

The opening scene in Grandmother Moon replicates what I was doing that night. I was sitting on the couch, snuggled into a corner, comfy throw across my legs, reading a book, waiting for her to appear.

My Horsehide Drum

Of course, living in a metropolitan city, going out and beating my drum (yes, I have one of those too), was not an option. Neither Trey nor Carter appeared except in my imagination. However, both of them - actually all of my characters - interact with each other within my hearing so I can dutifully record what they are saying.

Do not think that everything just flows and I need to do nothing but record what they are saying and doing because there is a lot more to it. This process gives me a first draft, the basics of the story.

Next is to read through again and include such things as description if that isn't there the first go through (and it usually isn't - she has a throw over her legs, not a dark blue one for example), her and his thoughts so the reader better understands the "what" and "why" of the story. I catch typos and punctuation errors here also.

Once I've done what I can, I ask Paty Jager and Sarah Raplee to read it over and then I incorporate their suggestions and corrections.

For Love and Magic I've added another six thousand or so words and had four more people read it. I see Grandmother Moon as an introduction in some ways to my series The Sacred Women's Circle . The first three books of that seven book series are due out in early March.

24 Days and Counting!

People ask "Where do you get the idea for a story?" And since I write contemporary romantic women's fiction with mystical spiritual elements, I always pause before I answer.

(Pause)

I don't "get ideas" for stories. They just show up!

Sometimes they show up with clearly cut characters who have names like they did for Sarah's Ankh. (The "ankh" necklace was around Sarah's neck from the very beginning). I did have to work to come up with some of the secondary characters' names and on the advice of my editor, Kelly Schaub, I changed Sarah's hair and eye color a smidgen.

Being an adult woman who worked outside the home in the 60's, 70's, and 80's (part of that time in law enforcement related jobs), Sarah took on some of those characteristics the women of that time often used when dealing with what today is considered sexual harassment.

And, boy, did Kelly have A Lot to say about that!

The story had shown up that way, so what was I supposed to do?

I thought about my seventeen and twenty-three year old granddaughters who grew up in a society that had established boundaries. What would they have said and done if confronted with Gary's behavior?
I went back to the story and became Sarah but as she dealt with issues, I responded as I believed my granddaughters would. (No, neither have AK-47's so the jerk-villain was somewhat safe).

The result? A stronger story that is much more "contemporary" than the original. The premise of the story is the same, the goals and motivation of the characters is the same, but how they deal with the conflict has moved to the 21 Century.

I hope you enjoy reading Sarah's Ankh and our other stories in Love and Magick, Mystical Stories of Romance being released on February 14, 2014.