Last week, when I published my newest book “The Curse of Elspeth Armstrong,” I did so with a sigh of happiness.  Writing is my second job and sometimes I just need a vacation.  As I’ve blogged before, though, my vacations don’t last very long.  I don’t go searching for new ideas, they come and find me.  As I relaxed on my sofa last night, yelling out answers to Jeopardy and feeling pretty darn smart, my next set of characters came a-knockin’ and I spent the evening getting to know them.  They were still on my mind this morning while I was driving to work and then the strangest thing happened.  Characters from “started but not finished” stories began nudging their way into my head.  Just like any aspiring writer, I have a half-dozen unfinished books saved on my computer.  They started off as great ideas but just couldn’t be developed past the first few chapters.  So, sitting on my hard drive are a bunch of characters who were never given a chance.  Suddenly, the shady brother from a book I started years ago seemed a perfect fit for my new book.  Another character, a woman who had just not been strong enough to carry her own story, stepped up to play the teen daughter.   As I continue to daydream about my next novel, I’m open to any of my old characters that would like a second chance.  I would really love for them to find a new home in the strange and weirdly wonderful writer’s corner in my mind.