Catherine Finger

Catherine Finger

Where do you get your ideas?

We writers know, love, and sometimes hate this age-old question.

My Jo Oliver thriller series started with a desire to write compelling stories of triumph, choice, and the power of emergent faith and community. Each story was fueled by a strong character, a plot idea, or an idea of what justice might look like via a twisty series of events. And while I am playing around with my next installment, I find myself distracted by new dreams.

For the past year or so, I’ve been toying with a new story that I finally had to start writing. This idea came to me in my sleep. Literally. I dreamt of my protagonist and how she meets her man— a paunchy insurance salesman with a deep alternative history steeped in international espionage. I loved the scene that first appeared to me in that memorable dream and ignored it soundly for about a year.

Yet the dreams returned. At night. While napping on planes. And once, while driving, an idea presented itself so strongly, I had to pull off the road into a highway oasis and furiously stab it all down on fast-food restaurant napkins. That chapter involved a kitchen island sex scene, with my 60-something arthritic protagonist secretly desiring to be ravished by her man on her granite counter—while fearing the possibility of breaking a hip with equal ferocity.

I’m thoroughly enjoying creating a life of unexpected purpose and adventure for two recently retired individuals who find themselves at the same banquet table at a hotel facing the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Stuff happens—and it is stirring my writer’s heart to share their story, giving me that excited I can’t wait to get to my keyboard to see what happens next kind of feeling.

Rest assured, as the story reveals itself, I’ll share more with you!

Enjoy today,

Catherine

One thought on “Dreamy Ideas

Pearl Fredericksen

January 31, 2020 - 09 : 45 : 39

LOL, love this! Last week I listened to an online seminar about dreams. One of the speakers was saying what you said, that we can receive strong promptings through dreams. My stepdaughter is an expert on dreams and she recommends writing them down, as you did, right away when you wake up, as that is when you best remember them.

Reply

Share your thoughts

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *