What do you Dream?

I dream alot. Maybe it's a result of my diabetes[isn't their a study about sugar levels affecting dreams?] or maybe it's the result of being a woman [hormones] or maybe I just have an active imagination. The scientists say that we dream. I am a person who often remembers her dreams, vividly.

For about two days when I was a teenager, i thought of keeping a journal. But rolling over and sleeping seemed so much more important at the time. I never did reconsider the task. Now that I consider myself a writer, I occasionally get the urge to jot down the good ones.

I love how my dreams combine ideas and images from my waking hours. Last night, it was a wonderful drama of secret identities, military intelligence, and political intrigue. [Hey! Look! Three I words. Looks like a good plan for a series.] So, you're probably wondering really? This reflects your waking hours? LOL
Well, sorta.

I had a hypothetical conversation with my neighbor about the political climate. I've noticed lately how wonderfully conservative the military community is. Being a conservative and a Christian, I feel good about that. But what if, in the future, there came a point when the military [or even each soldier] had to make a choice between following orders and following beliefs? When our enemies say, They will defeat us from within, at what point will we need to fight ourselves in order to maintain our freedom? I know I'm not the first person to consider this. I'm sure there are books and articles written on this topic... fiction and nonfiction. Somehow it came up in life and then again in my dreams.

I watched Psych before heading to bed last night. If you watch it and have met Juliet's brother Ewan O'Hara, you know this is where my dream got dreamy. LOL Hunky guys, uniforms, guns blazing... espionage. :P

Well, with my husband in the Army now, military things are often on my mind. What can I say? I dream and those dreams inspire new stories. What do you dream?

Writing at Work

I write at work. *Gasp*
My job is taking care of four children, their home and their father.

Right now, I've been working overtime.

The youngest has been up at night. I've been getting calls at 1 am or 3 am. Occasionally, the call will come before midnight even occurs and I'll be ticked that I haven't forced myself to bed. And perhaps it is my fault. I should go to bed instead of sit here thinking just one more page of edits is worth it. :)

Tonight I'll head to bed early with hopes that i'll be sleeping when my alarm rings at 6am.

Because, wouldn't it be nice to get some writing in before I have to go to work at 7am? I don't think it would matter, though. I'd still steal a few moments here and there to jot down a few thoughts or add that scene that's been stuck in my head.

I guess I'm lucky that I'm a stay-at-home-mom.
:D

How the story comes about.

You ever wonder where the story comes from? I DO! Thinking on all of the books I've read inspires me to come up with something even more unique. There are some who agree that task is impossible. The story is always the same - good guys, bad guys, good girls, bad girls...

I disagree, although I didn't always.

My stories come from my imagination. Whether my imagination is sparked by a book I'm reading or the newspaper, something I see on line or an event within my own life, imagination is what makes the story MINE.

Early last school year, I caught one of our distant neighbors, with his semiprivate fencing, digging a whole in the backyard. My first thought? I wonder who he's burying there. Is this normal? Maybe not but I sure did get some good story ideas out of that instance. Of course, I've seen his wife several times AND I've admired the decorative fountain/pool that he installed. :D Sooo, who is buried under there, anyway?

Now, my husband does two things online. That's right, just two things. He checks his email and he flips through MSNBCs week in pictures. Did anyone see this past week's photo of the house in Italy with the gas leak? It completely obliterated it. Shrapnel could be seen from this particular view 100 yards from the house. It was amazing... yet sad. And I wondered who lived there and how such an event would effect them.

I heard Christina Dodd tell a story about how she went to Walmart on one account and without a current work-in-progress, decided she would pick up a book to read. After reading the back which described a heroine and the pursuing conflict, Ms Dodd said, "No, that's not what she does..." And then she went on to write her story.

History... I LOVE IT. I live in a history rich area of the country right now. Just the thought of the people who lived here 150 years ago sends shivers up my spine... and I think, they might have had cousins living further west or brothers and sisters back in the homeland... It's just interesting!

God inspires me through His people and His word... have you ever wondered what it would be like to be one of the thousands fed on the beach? I often wonder what it meant to be a woman working in King David's palace or to be there after Jesus wrecked the temple. I mean, think of the talk! Jeez, who was that nut, anyway? Boy, wasn't he cute though? I wonder if he's married.

Surround yourself with opportunities for inspiration. READ. Meet new people. READ. Listen to music...country works best for me. READ. Write.

Always write.

Where do your stories come from???