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The Inspiration Behind My Current Work in Progress (WIP)


Once again in honor of Women’s History Month, this blog addresses the inspiration behind my current WIP, and yes, it was inspired by real women and real events.

Before any of you starts to panic, the book is fictional, totally made up, none of you will see yourselves in this novel.  Of course I hope you will identify with the characters, but they are all creations of my imagination and a couple of books on characterization I bought from Amazon.

After having spent two-thirds of my life in a profession dominated by women and all of my life in a family of strong women, I feel I have an understanding concerning the female psyche.

My current WIP is about a group of women who spend one very long day together in extremely close quarters.  After a few how are you’s and a few more polite questions inquiring on the husband and kids, they start to pass the time by sharing stories, something that has happened since they last saw each other. The first woman sets the bar with her story and from then on, each woman moves the bar up a notch. By the end of the day, they have all contributed something - some of the stories are surprising, some are poignant, and some are comical, but they all speak about life and friendship.

Where did I get this idea?  Each woman’s story could have been its own novel, but I didn’t want to dole them out like that.  I needed a venue where the women would be forced to spend time together and where the surroundings lent itself to privacy and sharing.  The women had to be close, family or family friends, and they each had a need to “get something off their chest.”

I took snippets of gossip and scandalous rumors I’d gathered over the years.  Some of the ideas came from magazines, newspapers, or the six o’clock news, and the characters came from all the years of working with hundreds, if not thousands, of women of all ages and situations.  The best part is the resiliency of the women when faced with tough situations. 
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