I wrote about how ties and carpets have inspired ideas before, but here’s another thing that spurred an idea. You may actually recognize him from the cover of Mystery of the Stardust Monk.

This little monk statue was in the courtyard at the Anchor in Lincoln City, Oregon. Look at him closely and you’ll notice that he’s been cleaved in two it looks like. I always wondered how the split came about and what was holding him together. I think that’s why he sat in the back of my imagination.

I had been at a writer’s conference and had been staying at the Anchor. I overheard some of the writers saying that at other craft workshops there they were required to look around at the amazing assortment of items, pick something, and write a story about it. That also planted the germ of the idea in my head. I wondered what story this monk would make me tell.

Then one day I saw him holding a little orb in his hand. I knew it was Stardust’s orb. Then I was down the rabbit hole on an adventure.

May you have an adventuresome weekend. Go explore!