Take Note

The new book, CRIME & NOURISHMENT, hasn't progressed as much as I'd have liked it too in the past week but I am pleased with the scene I've just written set at a Retirement Home where local Baronet, Sir Jasper is a resident. He's a bit of a dirty, old man really but gets away with it due to his age. He pretends to be sweet and innocent so that young ladies give him a hug or a kiss on the cheek which he really gets off on. He's the type of man that thinks a smack on the bum should be a compliment to a woman.

I only mention him and the Retirement Home here because they were both going to feature in my sequel to DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION before I decided to shelve the project. In that story Margaret, whom Derek met on the coach trip, has moved to Tenhamshire and runs the Home where Derek is gardener and her mother, Dora reigns supreme. Sir Jasper was going to be Dora's partner in crime.

Although I felt the book wasn't going to work after writing the first draft, the entire experience was by no means wasted and here I am using the main setting and one of the main characters of that story in another one. It pays to keep notes of things that may prove to be useful in the future.

I have a notebook where I write down ideas I have for stories and I also note down amusing situations or even just funny one-liners that may prove useful someday. If someone tells me about a funny situation they found themselves in and it resonates with me, it goes in the notebook. If I use it I will embellish the story and change it about.

Off the top of my head, Lauren's waxing stories in DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION came from a friend and the horse riding incident was basically my own experience. In NOTHING VENTURED, Diana getting club card points from paying for her husband's funeral with her supermarket credit card was also originally a friend's story.

I'd never use something that could potentially hurt or embarrass somebody but still, I'm guessing after reading this; my friends may be telling me a lot less in the future...or worse; want a percentage of my sales!