So, I’m sitting at my desk wondering what to write for my first blog. Got it! Inspiration.
I’ll write about inspiration.
Have you ever wondered where writers get their inspiration from? It’s a question people often ask.
Thinking about one of my early books: A TALE OR TWO and a FEW MORE, I was travelling by bus and got into conversation with a fellow passenger. Now if you live in Scotland or have ever visited, you will know that you can’t go far without someone engaging you in conversation. The gentleman in question chatted about football and an impending important match. He told me that he could no longer afford to pay for sports channels and was heading to watch the match at his sister’s home. He seemed to have had a sad and lonely life. I was so engrossed in listening to him that I almost missed my stop. The story, The Football Man was written as a result of my bus journey.
Also in my compilation of short stories is a tale Joe’s Shoe. Several years previous I was held up in traffic because of a road accident. Eventually traffic moved off and I noticed a very young police officer with his head bowed standing at the site of the accident. He was holding a child’s shoe in his hands . The tiny shoe was covered in blood. I heard later that a seven year old boy had run onto the road and was killed. The image of that police officer stayed in the recess of my mind and two decades later I wrote Joe’s Shoe.
A TALE OR TWO and a FEW MORE includes a story written to remember the beginning of WW1, that dreadful war that maimed thousands of young soldiers including my father who had his hand amputated as a result of injury in The Battle of Cambrai . Like many veterans he never spoke of his war experience. THE JOURNEY was my attempt to honour his memory.
Several events and people have inspired my writing. More about that later. it’s time for a cup of tea.