Goodreads asked 'Nathan Burgoine:

How do you get inspired to write?

'Nathan Burgoine One of the joys of being a short fiction writer is that often the loose theme is handed to you by the anthology call itself. That gives me a starting point. Sometimes those themes are ones I never would have considered myself - actually, any time I've worked with Jerry L. Wheeler the themes have been fantastic: erotica + circuses; erotica + food; erotica + trains - and in each case I went somewhere I wouldn't have likely gone without that theme being suggested: a knife thrower, an ice wine, and the Ottawa Grand Trunk station, respectively.

I also sometimes bump into ideas just in my day to day. "Cakewalk" was written based on the first line, "There once was a princess named Anna," when I was struggling for an idea and asked a co-worker what she thought of an idea I was working on. She suggested that line as a good starting spot. Coincidentally, her name is Anna.

flag