Where do you get those ideas for your books? by Jo Ann Brown

When people find out I’m a writer, and I’m celebrating the 30th anniversary of my first book this year and I’ve published over 100 books with a variety of pseudonyms since that initial book, the first question they ask is: “Where do you get your ideas?” Maybe they’ve seen the small bank I saw this spring in a bookstore window in England and thought that I just keep them in a box on my desk.

I hope the question about where I find my ideas isn’t quickly followed (not even giving me a chance to answer) with “I’ve got a great idea for a book, but I don’t have the time to write it. Do you want it? You write the book, and we’ll split the profits.” I’ve learned to smile sincerely and say that I’m grateful for their offer, but I’ve already got more ideas than I’ll have time to write. The response is either a knowing nod or disbelief.
And you know what? Both responses are correct.
I’ve always got ideas for future books whirling about in my head. Most writers do. The amazing thing is the future ideas always feel much more enticing than the current one in the work-in-progress, especially if I’m in the midst of the middle muddles section of the writing process. That part when all those story threads that looked so straightforward when I began the project now seem like a ball of yarn that’s been on the losing end of a kitten’s attention. Many of those ideas will eventually find their way into another book, but some just drift away and are best forgotten. Some writers keep an idea notebook, but I don’t. If an idea doesn’t have the power to stay and grow – it can’t remain just an idea; it has to become a more in-depth concept—then it never was, in my opinion, more than a whim. You know how I define a whim? Just something that seems like fun in passing, but doesn’t have enough depth to become anything real.
But, every once in a while, an idea comes to me as a gift from someone else. Usually it’s from a family member (especially my husband who’s my first reader and catches all the words I leave in or leave out in my rush to tell the story). My children grew up listening to a discussion of plot points around the supper table as my part of “How was your day today?” sharing that we did each night.
The second book of my Amish Spinster Club series is one of those books where the central idea for the book (and the title) was given to me during a dinner discussion with my husband. We still do the “How was your day today?” sharing even though the kids are grown and out on their own. I was excited about the heroine I had planned for the book—an Amish nanny in an Englisch home—

but I was still pondering the rest of the details. We actually were talking about the most recent releases from Love Inspired, and I mentioned how two were Amish romances and three were western settings and the last was a small town setting in the Midwest. With a laugh, my husband told me I should try to combine them all into one book. The Midwest book wouldn’t work because the series is set in northern New York. Therefore, he said my next book should be called The Amish Cowboy. He laughed, thinking it was a joke...but I thought, “Hmm....”
I’m sure every writer (or artist of any type) understands what that “Hmm....” means. It’s the sound of the wheels of the brain kicking into motion. Ideas soon were ricocheting through my head, and the story for book which eventually became The Amish Christmas Cowboy quickly gelled in my head.
It’s not the first time my family has given me ideas for books, and I hope it won’t be the last, because no matter how many ideas I have on my own...good ideas for books are always welcome here. I guess I need to look for a small box that says that. Hmm....

We're Sorry. We Have to Interrupt This Blog.... by Jo Ann Brown

I had just sat down at the computer here in Florida, getting ready to start my blog post, when my husband's phone beeped to announce an incoming a text. Who was contacting him on a late Sunday afternoon?
It was the security system at the house we're selling Las Vegas. But we've already got a deal on the house, and the folks buying it always contact us if they're going to come over. So who was there? The security company called a minute later, and we told them that nobody should be in the house. Now, they let us know, someone has hit the medical emergency button as well. Do we need an ambulance as well as the police? We suggest they send just a Metro police patrol over to check out what's going on. We alert the new owners, just to check with them that they hadn't gone into the house, as well as our realtor. Five long minutes later, with lots of prayers that nothing was wrong at the house and nobody had broken in, we hear back from our realtor. Another realtor had come into the house by mistake. The house next door to ours is also for sale, but they don't have a sign in their yard, so when the realtor pulled onto our street, she went to our door. Now the houses don't look alike and the numbers are obviously different, so she was embarrassed. Once we knew what was going on, we just laughed. And laughed harder when our buyers asked if the potential buyers next door had kids because they're eager for playmates for their little ones.
Why am I sharing this? Because readers often ask me where I get ideas for my stories. Here's a good example. One of those that's listed under the heading of "I couldn't make this stuff up." Will the events go into one of my upcoming books? The chances are really good, though there will be enough changes made that nobody involved will recognize themselves. Most of my books have some aspect of something that's happened to me or my family in them.
For example, in A Ready-Made Amish Family, my fifth Amish Hearts book, out this month from Harlequin Love Inspired,

two of the children in the story have health challenges. They were inspired by issues my two daughters faced as young children, and my characters had the same questions and the same experiences that we did. It gives the story an air of authenticity as well as allowing me to know all the parade of emotions my hero and heroine would be feeling.
So when I get interrupted when I'm working, I always hope the interruption will provide fodder for my next story. Right now, I'm being interrupted again... This time by a sound of something out in the leaves under the bushes at the front of the house. Is it just a squirrel? Could it be a snake (and I have to confess that I find snakes fascinating)? Perhaps a lizard? No matter what it is, it'll be interesting...and who knows what ideas it will spark?