Writers see the world differently.  Every voice we hear, every face we see, every hand we touch could become story fabric–Buffy Andrews

In my real life, I work in an urban hospital.  It is fifteen floors of pain, hope, new beginnings, and heartbreaking endings.  I’m lucky enough to have a career where I get to talk to people–even better, I get to listen.  Just in the past year, I have met the following people: a fighter pilot from WWII who was shot down over the South Pacific, a small-town Louisiana girl who came to the city in 1945 to become a swimsuit model, a woman who married her husband on a television show in the 50s, and a nun who ran a health-care clinic in Laos.  I listen to their stories with fascination, already imagining how they will fit into my next book.  My other senses come in to play during the course of a working day, too.  I see the trepidation on a patient’s face as they are being wheeled into Radiology, fearful of what the MRI will reveal.  I touch the hands of the sick, feeling the tremors, the pain, and the frailty.  I give words of encouragement–therapists are the ultimate cheerleaders!–to patients who want to throw in the towel.  Finally, the smells–oh, the smells of a hospital.  They are as unique as the smells of a church…or a barnyard.  Enough said.  I love what I do, but I love writing more.  Trying to find balance between my two worlds is not always easy, but they are intertwined.  My day job helps creates the fabric of my stories.  It’s easy to find inspiration to write—-it’s in nature, it’s in solitude, it’s in books and movies.  It’s also in observing and listening to those around you.  Everyone has a story; we just have to be willing to take the time to listen.  We were given one mouth and two ears.  Listen at least twice as much as you talk.