What sparks our ideas?

This month, we decided to talk about where our ideas come from. I jumped on this one because for me, that's the easy part!

I get my ideas from all over the place. My family, friends, (always changing the names and specific circumstances to protect the innocent, and not make a lot of enemies) songs, tv, movies, Facebook drama, newspaper articles and one of my favorites, The New York Times obituaries! I know that may sound a bit disturbing, but every day, they publish the stories of two or three people who have done amazing things. Musicians, politicians, scientists, the list goes on and on.

No, the hard part for me is not coming up with the idea for the beginning of a story or character, it's what happens next...but that's another post.