A Thorny Proposition - IWSG June 2026

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to this month’s co-hosts, Victoria Marie Lees, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and C. Lee McKenzie. For links to all contributors, click here.

May was busy. The month was full of weeding, mulching, seeding, and transplanting. Every time I went outside I saw something else that needed to be done. The operative word in that last sentence is “saw” because aside from the gardening, I had two cataract surgeries. Apparently, I’m on the young side, but they can come earlier for severely nearsighted people like me. When you’ve been wearing coke-bottle glasses since childhood and wake up one morning post-surgery, and can see a hummingbird zipping outside the window with your naked eye, it’s life-changing.

The yardwork and surgeries provided an excuse for writing-avoidance. After completing a class on creating a saleable submission package for my latest book in April, I sent out two more queries and received two more quick rejections. Enough! I don’t want to waste this book, so long story short, it’s out being edited (again) which put me in waiting mode, which is to say, I took a break from writing.

I know. I should have distracted myself with another project, but my motivation to start anything new has been on such a prolonged break, I’d begun to suspect it had walked off the job. Spring gardening, plus pre and post-op appointments, kept me too busy to think about that.

Amost.

This leads me to this month’s question. Do most of my story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?

The only consistency related to my story inspiration is that for a long time, I’ve had nothing but empty head space when I ponder writing a new one—that is, until one day recently. I was weeding under a holly tree, which requires yanking up “volunteers” while avoiding thorny leaves that clutter the ground in the spring. Often I listen to audio books during such tedious jobs, but on this day, my headphone batteries had died. I’d challenged myself to clear a certain section though, so hoed away in silence. Two hours in, temps had peaked at an unseasonable ninety-plus. The weeds were stubborn and sweat trickled down my face.  I’d reached a point where I was whisper-cursing at holly thorns poking through my gloves.

And, that my friends, is when a story idea struck.

Really? Now?

In truth, I wiped my forehead and sat back on my heels, pretty darn tickled. The thought that arrived had nothing to do with the task at hand, but afterwards, the weeding felt easier somehow.

Since then, I’ve thought about that under-the-holly-tree revelation a lot. I’ve even done a bit of research trying to decide if there is enough there to flesh out a story. I’m not sure, but that’s okay.

The whole business gave me a measure of relief. It’s a new month. My eyes working and there’s hope that once I choose to listen, my writing voice will come in clearly, too.

Where do you find your inspiration?