Most commonly asked question #1 for creative people – “Where do your ideas come from?” Or “How do you come up with this stuff?”

I feel like I would ask in return “how do you not?”

(Is that snotty or bitchy? Hmmm… well, no one will be interviewing me anytime, so I won’t be offending that imaginary interviewer.)

Maybe I’m a freak of nature, but I don’t think so. At least not with this. LIFE is where you come up with this stuff. Reading. Walking. Hiking. People watching. Talking. Hanging out. Watching TV. Inspiration is everywhere. Literally everywhere!

So I thought I’d start a mini-series of the births of my stories – starring Jennifer Lawrence as Torie, the struggling writer –a young clone of Chuck Norris as Husband, the supportive savior – Blake Lively as Bestie, the idea bouncer. Guest appearance by Bettie White as Mom, the best!

Setting: Fall of probably about 2006, Bestie’s House

Scene 1: Two hot blondes sit on the couch, a buffet of Whole Food tortilla chips and salsa on the table in front of them. The lights are off, the TV is on…

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand… ACTION!

Bestie and I were obsessed with the show Supernatural when it came out. Aw hell, we still are. Both of us. Me probably more than her these days, but it’s hard to say. Regardless, we used to watch it together all the time. We even made up a game where one of us would text a quote from an episode to the other, and we’d have 24 hours to find and name that episode – no internet. (She was ridiculously good at this game.)

Anywhoo – at one point in life, after an episode explained that dead man’s blood was like poison to vampires, we started discussing – logically and wisely.

“How interesting, my dear comrade. Dead man’s blood is toxic and lethal to vampires. How interesting indeed.” ::PuffPuffPuff on pipe::

“Indeed it is, friend of mine.” ::pulls super chic smart glasses down nose a bit::

“I say, good chum, what might happen should a vampiric being bite one of the walking dead?”

“I say, chap, what an excellent question indeed! Would the vampire die, or become a zombie himself?”

“Or would the zombie become a vampire?”

“Oh yes! Yes! Excellent point! Brilliant, really.”

::TutTutTutting of laughter::

End Scene 1.

That’s about how it happened. Obviously we were early twenty-something year olds, so our pipe was bubbles. ::laugh:: But we did talk about, in the universe Supernatural had created, what would happen if a vampire bit a zombie. That’s where the idea for FUBAR came from. I took that one night of conversation, and turned it into a story idea.

Setting: November 1, 2011, “Newly Wed Love Nest” Townhome

Scene 2: A hot blonde and a super strong red head are in bed together, both with laptops open and glowing in their laps.

Husband is also a writer – published in fact! And he was participating in NaNoWriMo that year, and finding it a little challenging to hit 2,000 words a day.

“Hey sexy face, why so sad?”

“2,000 words is so much.” ::FlexFlex:: “Do you have any idea just how much 2,000 words is?” ::shirt rips from flexing::

“Why no, I do not. I suppose I could try it with you, to understand your pain and agony.”

“That’s so sweet.” ::excited punch from hidden fist under beard::

End Scene 2.

I joined in, to support him as he went along. By the end of the month, FUBAR was nearly complete. From there, it was lots of re-reading, re-writing, massive editing, lots of cuts, and then starting back at the beginning again. Both Husband and Mom have read it and given me feedback, all of which changed parts of the story.

FUBAR is complete now at about 85,000 – and has turned into a quadrilogy named The New Hope Chronicles; FUBAR, Recon, Malade, and Council. They are all complete, sitting dusty and unloved in cyberspace waiting for just one person to say “yes”. I’ve had a lot of “no”s – and I do mean A LOT – but I still champion my stories in pursuit of that one elusive affirmation.

And that’s the birth and life (thus far) of FUBAR.

(PS – in FUBAR, the vampires turn sort of rabid. They basically stay a vampire, but become the zombie version of a vampire.)

“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” --Thomas Edison

(Fubar main characters done by Adalia Egan, and she does commission work should you want something...)

Word Slinging and Optimism

I'm just a genius... obviously --Part I--

MORE POSTS

Meet someone completely new and different...

2019 Personal Pipeline

2019 Reading List

2019 Motto and Mascot