Inspiration: Weird and Wonderful

Story ideas come from all over the place. With me, it can come from the strangest places. Several years ago I  entered a contest with a local book store with several of my poems. One of my poems won. The prize, a place in the anthology, and a book signing. It was so much fun. I felt like a "real" poet. The inspiration for that winning piece - a toilet paper commercial. Maybe I'll share the poem one day.

Peeps are the inspiration for my new short story. My writing group does writing exercises every other week. One week, and I know I've told this story before, we had to write 500 words on a picture we posted on our Facebook page. I chose this picture.

This picture just cracked me up You would not believe the dioramas people do with peeps.(I saw one about Soylent Green and it said they eat Peeple.) and I was inspired to write my 500 words. The 500 grew to be 3000, and a short story was born. I apologized for the length when I submitted the piece, but the story just kept flowing out of my head and onto the paper. I was blown away when everyone in the group loved it. They encouraged me to clean it up and publish. The original title was "The Case of the Missing Peep," but after doing some research, I found out I couldn't use "Peep," because of the trademark, so I made some changes. The changes worked and "Mallow Mayhem" was born. 

I'm in the process of having the story edited, and my cover is being created. The reveal will be coming soon.  In February look for "Philippa Marlowmellow in Mallow Mayhem." You can't trust anyone in The Pink. I'm very excited about it. 

I never know where my next idea may come from. Another toilet commercial? A picture posted on my Facebook page or Twitter account? Or maybe something my children say. You just never know. Keep your eyes and ears open because there are stories everywhere.

What is your weirdest inspiration for a story. Let me know. Post on my Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Haman-Author/522681927846776. It will be interesting to see what everyone says.