I just realized I haven’t yet posted anything today. I almost broke my unintentional streak unintentionally.
This is going to be a short one, because it’s late and I’m tired and I still have a few things to finish before I head to bed.
Did you ever have a great idea then someone utters a phrase that completely reroutes your original idea to an even better place? That happened to me today. The phrase was completely harmless and had nothing to do with my newest WIP, Whitaker’s Island, but those few words changed the entire face of the story.
My wife and I took the kiddo to State College (where Penn State University is located) to do a bit of shopping and then stopped for a bite to eat in Boalsburg. We’ve only been to Boalsburg once or twice even though its only a couple miles outside of State College so we don’t know the area too well. We drove around for probably fifteen or twenty minutes looking for the place my sister recommended, making lots of wrong turns along the way. We didn’t have a GPS or even an address so we were just driving blind until we happened upon a billboard for the place.
Anyway, after we ate and as we were driving out of Boalsburg, my wife said, “This place reminds me of one of those towns you go to, but you don’t ever leave.” We had a little bit of a conversation about her meaning before she fell asleep and I made the forty five minute drive home with my thoughts about the story twisting into something far greater than it was before.
I wasn’t planning on going to Boalsburg today, we only ended up there because my hockey game was canceled due to rain. I’m glad it worked out that way. I wouldn’t have this wonderful new story line if it didn’t go down like that. Just goes to show that the greatest inspiration comes when you aren’t actively searching for it, but instead when you are just living your life.
That is all. You may go to bed now.
Adam Ickes 