I am often asked how I come up with my story ideas. For me, it is not something that I can force out. Ideas come to me at their own will, but I do try to stimulate my mind to help the creative process. Something as simple as a song can give me a story idea. For example, 'Ghost of a Rose' by Blackmore's Night inspired an erotic romance that will be released by HeatWave Romance in 2007.

I read a lot of books on Celtic mythology and a lot of ideas come from this. I try to read as much as I can about ancient history. Currently, I am going through 'The White Goddess' by Robert Graves and taking notes. This book has a wealth of information on history relating to the Great Goddess cults that thrived in the Middle East and Europe for thousands of years. Another great book that has inspired me is 'When God Was a Woman' by Merlin Stone. A book on faery lore gave me the idea for one of my main characters (Nemu) in 'Of Water and Dragons.' From there, I devised a whole history for her just from one paragraph out of this book. Even fiction in the genres I like can help inspire a story. Reading is probably, for me, the best way for the Muse of Inspiration to grant me story ideas.

Sometimes ideas will come to me out of the blue when I am sleeping. I will go days with no ideas and then all of a sudden an idea will come to me--it's truly magical sometimes.

Is this the same for most writers? I would love to hear what other writers have to say about their source of inspiration.