It’s said that when Sweet Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) blooms, summer is half over. I’ve noticed it’s definitely in bud. It’s difficult for me with my other love to concentrate only on writing. I’m part owner in a plant nursery and our busy season is summer, of course. Still, ideas come to me when I’m out watering, selling plants, greeting customers and making bouquets for farmers’ markets, all labors of love.

Once while planting datura, an evil short story blinked into my conscious mind almost totally intact. I couldn’t wait to get home to get it all down. When I gave it out to a couple of female friends for quick beta reads, they loved it.

They still ask about it, but I haven’t found a proper home for it to be released as yet. Datura has lovely trumpet shaped blossoms but, for the uninitiated, is poison (all parts of the plant), so you might suspect a murder mystery.

Nature is a recurring theme in most of my stories. Authors write what they know and love. My Regency Romance ladies are out gathering herbs even as they plan their gowns for their coming out balls. The young women learn from their mothers how to use the “still” room to concoct formulas for household uses. Where do ideas come from for our stories? Authors borrow from real life and then take a twist or two from our imagination. It all works out somehow.

Emma Lane
soon to be released ~ THE DUKE AND MISS AMABEL HAWKINS