Where do you get your ideas from?

Hello everyone and thank you for checking out this first in a new series called 'where do you get your ideas from'. This week I'm going to be kicking things off and sharing three places which have inspired my writing and over the next few weeks I have some fabulous authors and bloggers lined up who will kindly be sharing their own sources of inspiration.

More often than not I have found inspiration strikes when you least expect it, irrespective of where you are, however, I did plan the research trip to Happy Days Retro Vacations in sunny Saxmundham, Suffolk last summer.

I knew I wanted vintage-style glamping to feature as a main thread throughout the novel I was working on at the time, Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage, and Happy Days provided the perfect place to live, breathe and soak-up the experience.

I didn't settle on Airstreams for Lottie Foster to work with in the end, but the pretty polka dot and Cath Kidston inspired interiors and the classy and grass free shower rooms provided the level of luxury and comfort I was hoping she would be able to achieve and Lizzie and Jemma from The Cherry Tree Cafe certainly thought so, as any of you who have read the novel will know!

Next up on my list of inspiring settings is a place I came across courtesy of a bog standard bus trip into Norwich. Ordinarily I use the wonderful Park & Ride system to ferry me in and out of the city, however, on this particular day I had taken the regular bus all the way in and decided to sit on the top floor and thank goodness I did. The First bus takes a different route to the P & R and as we approached the city I caught a glimpse of some terraced houses set around a central green that I simply knew would have to feature in one of my books. And, surprise, surprise (in a slightly altered guise), they do.

I do have a photo of this fab place, but as I am currently still writing the book, I'm going to keep it under wraps. For now...

My third and final 'trip to inspire' only happened yesterday evening and, as with the last, it kind of fell into my head rather than came about as a result of going out and looking for it. An impromptu trip to the beach in Lowestoft, Suffolk helped me to string together some of the threads of what I am hoping will be the backdrop for my next book or possibly even the next two! Obviously I'm not going to reveal too much as I have nothing but the bare bones as yet, but I think this pretty little montage speaks for itself.

Thank you so much for journeying with me through this post to discover some of the places where I have got at least some of my ideas from. I hope you will enjoy the rest of the series and perhaps find inspiration from them to fuel your own creative endeavors.

Next week, Christie Barlow will be here to tell us about the inspiration behind her new book, The Cosy Canal Boat Dream.

Until then, wishing you all a wonderful week!

H x