Happy Birthday, Dude! You're My Inspiration!

Inspiration comes in many forms.  Where does inspiration arise?  Everywhere!  For example, I had a lovely walk in the cool, windy weather this morning.  You have to go pretty early to beat the heat here in the western part of Texas.  Besides, I had to hurry and get my walk in so I could pick up the cake for my hubby's birthday today.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUDE!  He'll kill me, but here is one of my favorite pictures of him.  It's old and crumpled, but I still love it.  Now you know why I always call him my handsome hubby.  Hope it's a wonderful birthday, honey!  Someday, blog readers, I may tell you which books/stories he has inspired.  On the other hand, if you've read my stuff, you probably already know.   ;-)

But back to my walk on the red dirt trail. . .
I had Bruce Springsteen playing on the iPhone as I passed Skeleton Rock.  I always tap it with my toe when I go past.  Doesn't it sort of look like a buried skeleton to you?  Well, anyhow, it was the inspiration for a short story I wrote a while back (of the same name).  That story was bought by a small press for a spooky-story anthology, but they went out of business before it was published.  I'm thinking of publishing my own short story anthology--I have a few strange stories in mind--but first I have a couple of novels to finish.  Anyhow, that's one way I get inspiration, from the environment.

Next time, I'll tell you how Bruce (the Boss) Springsteen, and my grandson Logan, inspired a couple of other short stories.  Let me see if I can go dig up some more pictures for that post.  Until then, check out the short stories here on the blog (title bar) and read some novel excerpts if you want.

Afterthought:  Please tell me what you think about the strange-story anthology idea.  Do you read short stories?  Oh, and btw, I wasn't just being goofy calling my hubby Dude (as in Where's Your Car?).  That's really his nickname.  But it has nothing to do with that movie!