Okay, so I spent three hours in the dentist's chair last week getting three lower back teeth ready for crowns. It was only supposed to be two but my dentist found a huge crack in the third one. Cha ching! Anyway, I'm on FaceBook with my dentist and some of her very capable office staff and I posted an update about how I was thinking about creating a character that looked like a few of them and torture them with a dental drill. That led to a lively discussion involving a possible title.
Death by Dentistry, Drill M for Murder, Nightmare on Route Canal, and Nitrous and Old Lace were a few that made the cut. It was fun for all of us until I realized on the weekend that the gum around the last tooth was probably infected. My first clue was that I cried every time I bit down on something. So I called my dentist who was at a restaurant with her staff, and she phoned in an antibiotic RX for me. I'm sure my writing became a dinner table topic after that. Long story short, I had to go see her yesterday and lo and behold, my sweet, girl-next-door dentist who looks more like she should be modeling swimsuits for Sports Illustrated than shoving both hands in my mouth, said she had a great idea for a book.
Okay, I have to admit a lot of people tell me stuff like that all the time when they find out I'm a writer. They think Aunt Martha's first ride on the roller coaster is worthy of a four-hundred page book. So when she said she had a story for me, I thought yeah, yeah, and pretended to be interested.
It didn't take but a minute before I shot up out of that dental chair and said, "I know just where I'm gonna use this." I already had a vision of what my third book in the Casserole Series would be about and her plot tied in beautifully. The more she talked, the more I expected her head to twist around or something. What happened to my sweet dentist?? Should I call her Sybil?
Her story involved some of the most gruesome sicko things I'd ever heard.
And I loved it! Unless my agent freaks out, I have book number three ready to be outlined or maybe it will be book number two.
So the moral of this story is to keep an open mind when some enthusiastic friend, family member or even a perfect stranger approaches you with an idea. You never know when the next NY Times bestselling story will unfold before your very eyes!
Okay, it's time to hear your stories. What's the weirdest way a plot has ever come to you?
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4 comments:
I get ideas from everything. I don't have an off button which usually gets me in trouble. Too many ideas and not enough time to flesh them out or not enough decision making skills to pick one to run with.
A year ago I was standing under my deck in the rain watching a rivulet drip down the bark of a tree and saturate the ground around some rather impressive looking mushrooms. I zoned out on it so hardcore a story of faeries evolved, pushed through with a visit from a squirrel that sent me to the computer typing out notes.
Voila! The idea for Getting Faerie Tail was born. (Tentative title of course. LOL)
I'm glad you found something inspiring about being at the dentist. Usually my brain is frozen by fear so I get nothing but perma-bulbs in my eyes from the overhead light outta my visits.
Best,
G
Allure, love the title of your Faerie story. It is so you. And you only looked at the mushrooms? Just kidding!
One day I would love to read that story.
Thanks for sharing.
I get lots of ideas from dreams. I have really intense, mysterious dreams. I wish I could bottle the suspense. Last night I dreamed vampires were after me and several people. There was a special powder that destroyed the vampires and it was my responsiblity to bring it. We were holed up in a cabin waiting for them to attack, and I realized I'd forgotten the powder in the car. It was a horrible feeling. I was trying to figure out how to get to the car and back without dying, when I woke up.
And my mind is always going with what if's.
Anita, your dream sounds scary. I hope you got up and wrote down the idea.
I don't dream very much, but I always do my best scene planning right before I drift off. I don't know why my muse thinks that's her time to come out and play. Sounds like yours likes you horizontal, too. LOL
Thanks for checking out the blog and for commenting. Fingers still crossed for you.
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