Looking for Topics in All the Wrong Places

 

Note that there's a roadrunner sitting on the back of the chair

 I was sitting in the back yard trying to think of a topic for this week’s blog and listening to the wind whistle through the trees. Actually, they’re palm trees and the palm fronds were banging and flopping against each other. The only whistling I heard came from a black bird in the neighbor’s tree.

A roadrunner came looking for handouts. Did you know they’re carnivorous? They love raw hamburger. I tried wet dog food once, but the roadrunners didn’t want anything to do with it. I even tried pieces of wiener, but that didn’t work either. It’s hamburger or nothing, if a human is feeding them. Otherwise it’s lizards, snakes, or… What am I talking about roadrunners for?

I watched the dogs soaking up the sun. Such relaxed creatures, although it’s not always like that. Sugar thinks she’s the alpha dog, and Murphy is a good ol’ boy who ignores her.

I turned away from the dogs because I was still trying to come up with a topic. What could I write about? Nothing was coming to mind.

Maybe if I went inside the house and ate some chocolate. Chocolate always helps me think. Or does it? Yum. Whether it helps me come up with an idea or not, it would still fill a need.

I’d thought about writing a post on overused words, but it’s been done – more than once. What could I possibly add to what others have said? Not a thing.

I walked back outside. The wind had picked up a little. The desert is known for desert winds – the dust flies, pollen finds its way into my life, leaves fill the air (and the swimming pool, practically a necessity in the desert heat), and flies and bees buzz around.

Walking over to the tomato plants, I saw four tomatoes growing. Yippee! Good eating.

Returning to my chair, I thought about dark and stormy nights. A wind like this would be great on a stormy night. Hmm. I’ve already written about how this would add to the intensity and suspense of a story.

 I played with the dogs for a few minutes. We worked on one of their skills, Take It and Leave It. You set a dog treat on the ground and tell them to Leave It. I laughed because while one dog puts her head in the air and won’t look at the cookie, the other one lowers his head until his nose almost touches it. When they’ve done their duty, I say Take It. Who knew food could disappear so quickly. Love those dogs.

Still, what was I going to write about? Nothing seemed to inspire me. Not the wind, nor the dogs or roadrunner, nor the chocolate or… If you hear a huge sigh, that would be me.

Where are the guest authors when I need them? I have two guest authors – make that three – and a guest reader coming up in the weeks to come. In the meantime, what, oh what, should I write about?

Off to my office. Something in the room I spend so much time in should be inspirational, right? I have all of my book covers lining one wall, but that doesn’t help. I have notes to myself on most surfaces. Those don’t help, either. My bookcases are full and my To Be Read Stack just keeps growing. I could whine, but I won’t.

I’ve heard from several authors that sales are down. I could write about that. Buy a book and enjoy yourself. Okay, that won’t fill up my blogspot.

I have so little reading time. If I wasn’t busy trying to think up a topic, I could be reading a good book. That’s no help because I still need a subject.

This week’s topic came to me when I least expected it. Where do you look for inspiration to write a blog? Everywhere, and you hope for the best. While I didn’t come up with something to write about, I did come up with a few ideas for scenes in books. I hope that in some way I entertained you as much as my day entertained me.

Do you ever have a time like this when nothing lifts its head in the air and says, “Hey! Write about me?”

Until next time, I hope your week is more productive than my day has been. Maybe it’s Spring Fever gripping my thought processes – and I hope it passes quickly.

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