Plotting behind the wheel

I went to Louisville to see my family yesterday. Had a great time visiting with everyone, but after driving back and forth to Indy on Saturday for the IRWA meeting and then back and forth to Louisville, I'm beat!

Perhaps the best thing about long solo drives is that you can do whatever you like. You know what I'm talking about--you don't have to listen to the music your kids want to hear, and you can stop for potty breaks whenever the spirit moves you. The air conditioning/heat can be set at a level that you find comfortable in the driver's seat. The back seat sits there silently, not telling you to turn the music down or the fan up.

But perhaps the best part (for a writer) is the opportunity to plot. I know I'm technically a one of those authors who writes by the seat of their pants--a pantser as opposed to a plotter--but let's face it; even pantsers plot. We just don't do it on paper. We write the outlines in our heads.

Not long ago, I had a dream about being in a plane crash. The plane went down in water, but I survived. Now, most people would see this as a warning never to book a flight that's routed over any large bodies of water. Others would take this as encouragement that, no matter what happens to everyone else on the plane, they would come out alive.

But those people aren't writers. I've been tossing this dream around in my head for a while now with the intention of writing a book about it. But upon further reflection and some discussion with my writer pals, I think I can get a trilogy out of that dream--sort of a paranormal romantic suspense series. While driving a total of four hundred miles in two days, I gave it even more thought, and I'm pretty sure this will become my next project.

Since I can't start publishing the Cat Star spinoff series until next fall, clearly, I need something to work on in the interim. So, Sandy and Nancy, prepare yourselves for chapter one! Not sure what I'll call it, or even what I'll name the characters, but I'm sure it'll come to me. It always does. I just have to take my brain on a road trip.