Ideas on the Go

My latest book - due out 3rd July 2012

Now that I am back from all my travels I'm settling into writing the creative non-fiction chapter book I had started.  Plus I've been visiting schools in the Auckland (Orakei Primary, St Johns School), and Northland (Mangawhai School) area.  Yesterday, my first copy of Eruption! Discovering New Zealand Volcanoes arrived so I'll be able to give sneak previews to schools of that book.

My head is brimming with all the ideas that have creeped into my thoughts while I've been on the road.  I find that when I'm travelling the creative juices are at their highest. I think it is because my head isn't full of: What am I going to cook tonight? Has Rhiannon/Tristan remembered their gym gear? etc. I just have my 'Author' hat on while I am away.  (Not that I don't think of my kids.)  Also, the scenery was so beautiful - and beauty is inspiring.

In fact, while on a trip along Farewell Spit I had two ideas for Learning Media and no notebook to record them on. I had to key them into my phone. At the first opportunity I bought a new notebook for my handbag. (What was I thinking, going away without a notebook on the ready.)

I'm looking forward to writing those ideas into stories but I'm a person who likes to finish something before I start something new - so it might be awhile. One of the ideas was a fiction chapter book.  When driving to Collingwood (1 1/2 hours) I worked out who the characters would be, what their goal was, and the problem they were going to solve (in my head).  I'm loving mystery books at the moment (Alan Bradley's 'Flavia de Luce' series, and the Mary Quinn series) and they've inspired me to write one. I'll let it brew for several months and by then I should have finished the book I'm currently writing plus the one New Holland wants me to write.

This is one of the reasons I love to write - so many ideas that I cannot wait to turn into stories ...