What sparked The Grace Writers?

And my justification for hoarding vintage photos.

A vintage photo sparked The Grace Writers.

It was a photo taped to the cover of a woman’s writing notebook. She was in the first writing group I attended, and one of my favorite people in it.

She was an older, spunky woman with stories to tell, and they inevitably drew a chuckle.

On her notebook, she’d taped a photo of herself in her teen years, posing in a bathing suit, hand behind her head, back arched—you know the pose. Mind you, she wouldn’t be caught dead posing for a picture like that at the time, but she flaunted her former self with abandon—and rightfully so.

The characters in my novel were inspired by her spunk. I loved her honesty. The kind of honesty that doesn’t care what others think—that lives life to the fullest without regard for pleasing everyone else. A distinct lack of decorum, if you will. (Decorum has always been a pebble in my shoe.)

So that sparked the idea of a writing group filled with interesting, fun, flawed, wonderful women and the love of vintage photographs.

So to justify my obsession with them, I’m offering a few old photos to (hopefully) inspire you to write a story.

Here are a few questions I always ask myself when perusing vintage photos.

• What is happening here?

• What emotions are present?

• What led up to the photo?

• What happened after the photo was taken?

• Are there clues to an underlying story?

• Are there relationships in the photo—be creative.

• What object/action is in the periphery?

May these inspire you!