I was asked where I get my story ideas. That's just the thing, you never know. But when that inspiration hits, you just have to buckle up, hold on tight and follow wherever it takes you.
My first book about Earth Day took a while. It was inspired by a letter to me (in 1971) from Earth Day's founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson, a man behind the Clean Air and Water Acts, a man who helped save the eagles from extinction. My story (which includes a talking eagle, btw) didn't arrive until 50 years later.
Inspiration for my Bluebell Saves the Day series (about a sweet-but-mischievous cat) came suddenly when a sweet-but-mischievous cat I know sneaked out an opening in our screened-in back porch--and I hoped, instead of her doing mischievous things while escaped, maybe she was out in the world doing good works.
The direction of my upcoming book (Sophia Wanders the Wilderness: A Story of John Muir, Father of the National Parks) was inspired with a Sierra Club acknowledgement that its founder John Muir had used racist words and that Native populations had been decimated to pave the way for the National Parks. Instead of my book being an unabashed celebration of Muir's conservationist efforts, it now acts as a beginning for serious discussions about how we treat our fellow man.
The next inspiration hasn't really hit me yet. However, it may be coming. I'm working with my 88-year-old mom. She wants to catalogue her experiences about growing up in post-depression, rural Wisconsin.
I'm getting the buckle ready, just in case.
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