Erica here: It is my pleasure to host Delores Topliff today on the blog. Delores and I, beyond being writers, have another connection. Years ago, when my daughter was in high school, she took college classes through University of Northwestern, St. Paul, and Delores was one of her professors!
Welcome, Delores!
Hello everyone. I’m Delores Topliff happy to post on Seekerville today. I appreciate how this site nurtures and inspires writers. Plus, its archives are wonderful!
Before 2021, I had four children’s books published along with many true testimony stories in inspirational compilation books. But gradually the stories in my head grew into fun novels that demanded telling. My first, Books Afloat, published last January, is based on a Japanese submarine that really did enter the Columbia River in mid-June1942 and the fictional idealist young woman on a floating houseboat library taking books to river residents who works with undercover volunteers to stop that invasion. Books Afloat’s publication has given me fresh appreciation for readers and those who review our books. I’m offering an e-book copy of this book in the continental US only to those who comment on this blog. And I’ll appreciate it lots if you post a review on Amazon after reading the book.
I’m picking up writing speed now. Christmas Tree Wars, releasing October 5th, involves two feuding Wisconsin Christmas tree farmers in 1966, one Norwegian and one Swedish. Their son and niece both come home to boost farm finances and compete to grow the White House tree chosen to be decorated by First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Their farm rescue and growing romance helps the feuding farmers and town rediscover the reason for the season. There are even Norwegian and Swedish Christmas recipes at the end of the book, just in time for your Christmas baking.
Today lets focus on where story ideas come from. The easy answer is ANYWHERE! Hang on tight to all sparking story ideas. There’s never an inconvenient time for them reach your brain. Like babies, they choose when and where they wish to be born. Moms seldom dictate those dates. My purse holds a notepad and pen for story ideas, but they often gets overlooked. Instead, key ideas often get jotted on the backs of envelopes or even utility bills. These days, I often pick up my ever-present iPhone and dictate enough notes or short text to capture the idea.
While writing a number of stories or poems, I can tell you exact places and times when ideas came. If I paid attention and tuned in, they were mine to keep and watch them grow. If I didn’t, they waved goodbye and visited the next appreciative person who would give them the time and space they needed.
For example, Christmas Tree Wars was born one Sunday morning when I drove along Minnesota farm roads going to church when I took a different road and spotted something interesting. A row of tall, uniformly evergreen trees stood along one side of the road. On the other, one single mid-sized evergreen tree stood by its lonesome self bordering the edge of a hayfield. Instantly the Lord gave me the basic story idea and arc. The owner of the row of trees was to provide a stately evergreen to a public figure. Instead of sacrificing one from his own row, he cut and presented the one belonging to his neighbor, kind of like the O.T. prophet Nathan comes to King David talking about someone stealing someone’s beloved ewe sheep. Of course some details change as stories develop but I’m happy to remember how the story kernel dropped into my heart on that exact stretch of road. I wish it was always that easy, but it helps when we welcome inspiration and tune in.
One of my best poems arrived between our automatic washer’s rinse and spin cycle as I bent over the appliance with a scrap of paper and pencil.
Wilderness Wife, releasing next February, came from appreciating all I’d heard about Dr. John McLoughlin, founder of Fort Vancouver in my home town at the end of the Oregon Trail. Most of us know a fair bit about this famous man. One day I wondered what his wife, Marguerite Wadin MacKay McLoughlin was like and found a gold mine that totally inspires me. For me, an occupational hazard when writing historicals is that so much to inspire, it’s hard to weed out and decide which key parts to keep.
Connect with Delores
Website: www.delorestopliff.com (blogs every 2nd Tuesday)
Email delores@delorestopliff.com
Twitter: @delorestopliff
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DETopliff
Remember to leave a comment to be entered to win an ecopy of Delores' story Books Afloat!
Thank you, Delores, for visiting Seekerville today!
Thank you, Erica, for hosting me here. I loved teaching your daughter and for years kept her term paper as an example of excellence long before I met you. What a fun connection, and it's fun to be here today.
ReplyDeleteErica's daughter is a treasure, isn't she? :-)
DeleteDefinitely. So fun to know her because she stood out before I knew Erica.
DeleteI'm biased, but I think she's pretty awesome, too! :) I was so pleased when you introduced yourself as her professor all those years ago!
DeleteDelores, these books sound so great.
ReplyDeleteWhere do story ideas come from. For me? I often get an idea for the next books while researching the current book. I'll read some tidbit of oddness and a I think, "That's so fascinating." And a story is born.
To me that's one of the really fun parts of being an author. I appreciate you and the others that make this a great and prizewinning blog site!
DeleteThe notebook idea is a good one because sometimes I get a surge of an idea but if I don't write it down, I can lose track of it.
ReplyDeleteI remember being in a children's museum once and you could pick up all this unusual stuff. I picked up a...I think it was a mastodon tooth and this IDEA just bloomed to life. A whole story in touching that tooth.
And now...I can't remember it. What in the world idea could I have gotten from a mastodon tooth??? Weird. I remember that I had the idea, just not what the idea was.
A notebook. Check!
A friend in Texas gave me the root of a mastodon tooth for my rock collection. Fascinating and something my grandkids love. I once showed it to a dentist challenging him to identify what it was and he did! Yes, great story idea. Now I'll think about that, too, and hope you recover yours!
DeleteI keep thinking I should go back to that same museum. I think I remember where it was. :) and pick up the tooth again (not a TUSK you understand, nothing massive) and hope the idea is there. LOL like it's mystically linked to touching the tooth. Hard to see that happening to a cowboy though.
DeleteI hope you do, and probably other exhibits there will "speak" to you, too!
DeleteDelores, this was a great post on finding ideas. Your books all look good. The Christmas tree farm book sounds like it could be a Hallmark movie. Please put me in the drawing for Books Afloat.
ReplyDeleteI will, and since it is an e-book, there's no reason it has to be only to residents of continental US so this is extended to readers in Alaska and Hawaii, too!
DeleteI've been using my phone to jot down those stray thoughts that pop in. Can't wait to read the Christmas Tree Wars!
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia, thanks for stopping by Seekerville! Doesn't The Christmas Tree Wars sound intriguing? Hope all is well with you!
DeleteUsing the phone is a great idea. I could even call myself and leave myself a voice message? Maybe? I've never tried that. I know I can text myself but can I call myself?
DeleteI text myself messages on my iPhone these days, too! It works great!
DeleteThanks for your constant encouragement and support, Pat.
DeleteIf I call myself, won't I get a busy signal? Or can I leave a voicemail. It's a fun thought I'll have to check out :)
DeleteDelores, thanks for being with us today! The Christmas Tree Wars caught my interest, and I agree with Sandy. It does sound like a Hallmark movie. Your mention of Lady Bird Johnson takes me back a long, long time! A friend and I were recently discussing the Johnson family. She shared that her husband's cousin dated one of their daughters. Her husband and his counsin had the same name so her hubby was often confused with the more "well known" cousin. Hmmm? Now there's a story idea! I'm claiming it and jotting it down so I don't forget!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your teaching and writing success, Delores!
Yes, you should definitely do something with that great story idea!
DeleteThank you. Teaching has brought so many fun experiences and meaningful relationships in my life. I'm thankful for every open door the Lord has led me through and where they lead. Best of all, the journey is continuing and getting better all the time! I'm happy to meet so many of you today.
DeleteHi Delores!! It's great seeing you over here today :)
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for broadcasting my time here. I appreciate you!
DeleteHi Delores! It's great to meet you and your stories!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have stories pop into my head all the time. It's usually when my mind is quiet - while driving, showering, gardening, walking the dog, or taking sermon notes - that the low hum of those story ideas can be heard. Sometimes I feel like I live in this world of stories and only occasionally come out to deal with reality. :-)
Thank you for being here today!
Totally my pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity and would be thrilled if one day it can happen again.
DeleteLove how you share that story ideas can come from anywhere, at any time. Author Agatha Christie said, "The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes." Or doing the laundry. Or while you're taking a walk ... anytime we give our brains a chance to roam.
ReplyDeleteIf Agatha Christie says it, then maybe I shouldn't be so unenthused about dishwashing. Hmmmmmm
DeleteThat's a great reminder and she was prolific. I saw a documentary where she dictated her stories into a dictaphone machine and then a secretary typed them up. Now, that's an accomplishment few people have . . .
DeleteYou're also great at story ideas, Beth. And I appreciate your encouragement and prayers for so many authors!
DeleteA new to me author! YAY! Your book titles sound great. Off to check them out.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. That makes me happy!
ReplyDeleteDelores, I am in complete agreement that story ideas are everywhere. Like you, I keep a notebook so I can write them down. IMHO, no idea is ever wasted. And I love your premise for Books Afloat. Talk about a hook!
ReplyDeleteA floating library, now that would be a great job! I love driving by Christmas tree farms, never thought of them fighting. Both books sound great!
ReplyDelete