Inspiration - The Big Hill

A lot of readers ask what inspires a story, a scene, a character. For me, inspiration comes from a lot of different places -- usually something totally random. Not all the inspirations make it into stories right away. But sometimes they do. Such is the case with The Big Hill, the story that is currently entered in the America's Next Author's contest.

I got the inspiration for The Big Hill after a day of sledding down the hill we coincidentally call The Big Hill. There's a reason we call it that -- it's big and it's fast. Here's a clip from one such sled ride. John is standing midway down the hill. That's our dog Hooch trying to outrun the sled.



After a few hours of going down The Big Hill, John and I walked back to the house -- exhausted, but exhilirated. He said, "I hope we're still doing this when we're ninety."

We held hands and walked the rest of the way home, laughing about our ride, the idea for The Big Hill already blossoming in my mind.