Ideas! Where Do You Get Yours?

I was walking my dog early this morning enjoying that Montana has finally had snow, though it's not even enough to plow the road to my house. I left the driveway and meandered alongside Nara as an eagle flew not far overhead, through the trees and out over the lake. My neighbors drive past on the near-deserted road (mostly retirees live down here) on their way to the gym. They stop and chat for a few minutes to talk about a favor I asked of them (to come). I continue on past the house where Nara likes to do her business so I keep her on the leash (really, almost no one lives on this road). Deer cross the lane in front of us so Nara goes a little wonky in an attempt to free herself and chase the deer. We finally get to the spot where I let her off so she can run to heart's content, chasing deer, and leaping over fallen logs in the woods. We pass a kind lady who enjoys walking to the top of the lane to pick up her newspaper every morning. Nara tires herself out and we walk back to the house enjoying the crisp winter air, finishing up our little three mile walk (don't worry, she'll get another in the afternoon).

Right about now, you're probably wondering why on earth I think anyone should care about what I did this morning or that I was walking my dog-it's a normal everyday activity for millions around the world. Well, it's all about ideas...

When my neighbor stopped to talk about the favor, it was about them driving my vehicle into town so I wouldn't have to leave Nara alone at the house. Did I mention I live in a small town with amazing neighbors. They're only driving it into our small town to be picked up by the auto shop owner who lives here, but works in the next town. They just have to leave the car up in town, locked with keys inside. I call the shop owner to give him the keypad code for the car so he can get in and drive it to and from the shop that is in the next town about 18 or so miles away (yes, the service is that good).

So, what does this have to do with book ideas? All of these thoughts ran together until one idea after another for books came into my mind...

• Girl with dog in small town where she can leave her car parked and give the key code to the auto shop people who will drive it to and from town for her.

Okay, not interesting enough, so I thought about last night as the blizzard was raging and the wind howled and the waves crashed into one after the other on the lake. Darkness surrounded the house while the fire blazed and I huddled under a wool blanket watching an episode of a crime show where the victim was slashed. New idea...

• Girl with dog in small town where she can leave her car parked and give the key code to the auto shop people who will drive it and from town for her becomes 'Unknown killer loose in small town who stalks girl with dog who normally walks in the mornings with the eagles and makes a great target because she's oblivious to the fact that small towns are probably a great place for a killer to walk around unsuspected by the fellow townsfolk'...

See where I'm going? Too bad it took me so long to get there. What point you might be asking? Ideas can quite literally come from anywhere. This isn't a story I would write-not in my genres of interest to write, but the point is, no matter what happens in your day, with the right spin and a lot good descriptive words and interesting characters; then throw in a scary shower scene and your mundane, quiet, small-town life could morph into a page-turning suspense thriller (just remember to let the dog live at the end).

Okay, I finally got to the point! Where do you get your ideas?

All photos courtesy of Google Images.