Amazing how a simple encounter can stir the imagination.
Her name was Anna, or at least the badge on her elegant waitress uniform said so. Although she was young, she looked tired and worn. An unruly curl from her dull, lifeless blonde hair, had worked its way from under her cap.
‘More coffee? Toast?’ Although she smiled it seemed to me it was an effort.
The accent sounded Slavic, perhaps Russian, or even Ukrainian? Some weeks earlier Russia had invaded Ukraine.
‘No thank you.’ She walked wearily away.
But that simple encounter had caught my imagination bringing about weeks of research over the invasion, then a couple of weeks ago my latest novel. ‘Stop! Don’t Run’, was released.
What fascinating material we have in this world around us, don’t we? So much so that we need to start using our imaginations before we even type a single word.
Joan E Histon - 