Post-Travel Musings

I've been racing to keep up with the flood of ideas that are popping into my head. From the day we left for our vacation, my imagination went into overdrive. There's the snippet of conversation I heard between two people at the gate at O'Hare who learned they worked for the same organization (they each wore the logoed polo shirt) and shared what type of work they would be doing in a specific Asian country. There were the multiple black and white men I saw with Asian women on the streets and restaurants of Bangkok. The hotel we stayed in, which is also a service residence with laundry, pool, workout room, and parking. The dozens of shopping malls and open markets I saw, some disperse, others dedicated to food, electronics, or high-end retailers. Talking with people during the long plane ride and learning the reason for their travels. Talking with my husband's former classmates and learning where they live today (anywhere from Virginia and Arizona, the Philippines, Australia, or right there in Thailand) and what they do.

In addition to the sights and sounds, I also read some creative, imaginative novels during my trip, one women's fiction and one contemporary romance. Both were refreshing. The women's fiction took a very unusual premise and, although it dragged in spots for me, made a highly entertaining story out of it, and I felt like I hadn't read that story before. The romance, although with too many people for me to process introduced in the opening chapters and a character whose background remained unclear to me through most of the book, was also refreshing, as it provided realistic language and behavior, something not always seen in romance novels.

So, armed with plenty of ideas for future stories and some well-written novels to hold up as beacons, I prepare to lose myself in the wonderful world of writing. My next Bunderful Books, The Heat of Heat, should be out in a few months. The way I'm feeling, I might have it finished next week!

Isn't it wonderful?