What is your inspiration? What makes you think "Oh! That would be a great story!" New authors have a bit of a conundrum with this. They may think that inspiration comes from great tragedy or from great happiness. Of course it does, but don't stop there! The world is full of inspiration just waiting for the right wordsmith to come along and discover it.

Inspiration is not a dirty word. It is a word that should create a story that screams to be told. It can come from the best love of your life or from the worst trauma you have experienced. But, it can also come from a ride of the EL in Chicago, or Metro bus in Houston. You could be walking down your home town street, or you could be drinking a coffee and reading a book in Barnes and Noble's Starbucks.

Think about your day. Do you tell others about that? Well, that is a story waiting to be told. Did you have a bad experience with a bill collector? Boom! Story! Perhaps you had a brief encounter with a man or woman who changed your life in some poignant way. Write about it.

Lay down on the grass, mountain, beach, and look up. Do the clouds tell you a story? What are the chipmunks and squirrels chattering about? Use that amazing imagination of yours and come up with your next big thing.

Me? I am writing a series called Colors of Crime because one day I saw a rainbow, had just watched a crime/suspense movie on Hulu, and thought "Hey! Colors of Crime! I'll use the rainbow colors and make a book about each color and a crime affiliated in some way with that color! Neat!" and thus: Crimson Curse and soon Ginger Vengeance were born.

Of course, sometimes inspiration can come from a brainstorming session with an author pal, from looking on the internet for ideas, from your very own research.

Nothing is off limits and nothing is taboo. There are readers for every idea. Now write!