It's a fact -- authors utilize people, places, and things they know, they see, they experience, etc, in their creative process. While names, places, and actual circumstances are changed to protect the innocent (or not so much so), it's inevitable.

For example, in my debut novel, Rekindled Prophecy, the setting was an Irish bed & breakfast in rural Virginia outside of Washington, DC. It (and the innkeeper) were based on my own wedding venue in Front Royal, Virginia. Even a few instances of the supporting characters' wedding in the story came from some blips from my own wedding day.

Greylyn's 1968 British racing green Camaro sits in my garage (pictured along with my son who completely rebuilt the car).

In the second novel from the same series, Revelations, the dance club in the beginning of the book was crafted based on a three-story club I may have frequented too much in my terrible twenties in DC.

And there's plenty of everyday inspiration out there in the world to fuel creative minds. The same can be said for my upcoming book, Psychic in Suburbia.

The impetus for all the spooky shenanigans takes place at the annual neighborhood adults-only Halloween party. The FMC shows up dressed as Princess Peach with her hubby as Super Mario. I may or may not have dressed up as Princess Peach for a Halloween party at a friend's house who happens to host Halloween every year since we became acquainted. Of course, I may or may not have dressed up as a beer wench (also in the story) another year.

I figured if I'm writing spooky stuff, this would be a perfect entry point for the story - Halloween party in a real haunted house! While all characters and events are 100% fiction, the party house may actually exist. But it's not haunted...or is it? I'll never tell.

Also, the FMC has a cute little Chihuahua fur baby named ChiChi. I have a cute little Chihuahua fur baby named Harley. However, my granny had a Chihuahua named ChiChi when I was growing up.

The everyday fuels a writer's mind and it's inevitable that little details work their way into stories. It's kinda fun, too. I always wonder if someday someone reads one of my books and messages me about recognizing the club in DC or the bed & breakfast mentioned in my stories. I'm guaranteed to get a "WTF" comment from a certain someone(s) after this newsletter.

Anyway, yes, there's the disclaimer at the beginning of every book but at some point in some way some aspect of a story was inspired by something in that author's reality.

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And if you're ready to take the plunge, Psychic in Suburbia is finally ready for PREORDER!

https://bit.ly/psychicinsuburbia

Releases September 23, 2025