Ah yes, the questions of inspiration. Good choice.

1. How do you come up with inspiration for your stories? Do the ideas just come to you?

For me, it depends on the story. I've gotten inspiration from a variety of sources and I think I've talked a little about this before but can give a few different examples of ways that I've gotten ideas. I have a novel that includes romance started that was based off the song Happier, which sounds like a cheerful divorce song to me. So, I have a man who ended up getting divorced from his wife because he prefers men and she wants him to be happier. They have a son who finds out and he secretly tries to help his dad find a boyfriend.

The current story I'm writing for Basics of Erotica, I don't remember where I got the initial inspiration. I know that I wrote the first story related to the characters many years ago for a contest and that involved a birthday spanking. It wasn't my first one to include BDSM elements either. I have another where one character ventures into the community but the relationship he ends up with is not going to include that. Those characters started with an idea to "ship" two guys I knew in high school who ended their friendship over a girl. I used their names but nothing else though.

I've gotten ideas from dreams. I also want to write a story about a penguin shifter going to a conference to find a mate and they find a stray egg instead because I read that set up written by someone else and it was way too short. The action just cut off and all of a sudden things were resolved. I feel like it's a good idea so am developing my own versions.

And yes, with the dreams I am male in some of them.


2. Are there books you reference when writing your stories?

Honestly, no. I don't have any references that I use when writing. Maybe when I edit as there are some good suggestions for editing or the occasional book that talks about basic plots on writing. When it comes to the writing of the story though, no book comes to mind that would help as a reference for the very fictional items. Web sites for names or necessary equipment, that is a different story.


3. Are prompts better to write for or with than writing without prompts?

If I'm going to enter a contest, I need a prompt. I have way too many ideas to pick from, so if you give me an open "write anything" options then I freeze up. I'm terrible at making decisions. Don't go out to lunch for me unless you are going to give a narrow set of options because if I have to pick from anywhere, we might not even eat. That is how bad I can be, for real. A prompt helps give direction and since I have over 50 ideas, I'm bound to have something that will fit.