Where does a writer find a new idea?

I’m between books with nary an idea to jumpstart my writing, but an idea can come from anywhere. You have to pay attention to the moment in which you’re living.

    The idea for Christmas For Annabel, a holiday romance, came in a Hobby Lobby store in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was October, so, of course, the Christmas decorations were out. I saw three-foot trees made of feathers, and had to wonder. What if one was made of black turkey feathers and it was eight feet tall? ? Who would have such a thing? A hunky millionaire, of course, with an ambitious girlfriend who decorates. Big Bird gone Goth and having a meltdown.

     Maddie’s Choice, a romance, came from a news article about cattle rustling in local cattle ranches. Reports of a fight between two motorcycle gangs about who controlled the local drug trade added a twist. Add a bull with a craving for chocolate, a New York romance novelist, a hunky cowboy with PTSD, and a gun battle, and there you go. Gideon’s picture is on my website.

     Rogue-Phoenix Press will publish The Haunting of Aaron House this October. It is a paranormal about ghostly possession. It has a lot about spells, folk healing, and witchcraft that exist today in the town where I grew up. My paternal grandmother was a witch and I use a lot of what I learned as a child in this book. I can’t wait for you to meet Phineas and Amalie, the two really nasty ghosts from the 1800s, bent on murder.

      The same publisher will release Love in a Small Town after Aaron House. The small town is my home, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, which looks a lot like it did in 1879, when it was founded. Single parenthood, teenagers, and the human need for loving companionship are themes here.  David Martin who, until two years ago, was a confirmed bachelor, is suddenly widowed and a step-dad to teenaged Sarah who doesn’t fit in to small-town living. They both need to find love.

        I wrote Accidental Alien, for the fun of creating a whole host of weird but funny characters, both here and in outer space.  Daniel is a plant who looks human, as is Aine, his gorgeous would-be assassin, and a personal weapon of mass destruction. Daniel is a shape shifter; Aine is a Shirley, the hooker, has her own app, and Benz and Arnanno, two very confused detectives—their own comedy act. Little Leon is a homeless eight-year-old gangster in training, devoted to his stray cat, Scooter, who escapes death when rescued by a werewolf, aka Daniel. See Daniel, Scooter, and a plant werewolf on my website: http://joycezellercom.weebly.com