From The Chocolate Box

From The Chocolate Box:
Write about your greatest fears and try facing some of them on the page

You're not a well Woman some of my friends will tell me after reading what I write
(And note that's what my friends say) and other people just want to know where I get my ideas from. Then they tell me there's probably medication out there for what ails me and maybe I should ask my Doctor about them.

Seriously, I write about my Fears and my stories are how I deal with them.

The great Rod Serling once said he got ideas from lines in books, titles of movies and lines he heard or read in stories and movies. I guess the idea is you have to be open to what's around you.

The hard part of course is letting go and the real problem of course is not being afraid of what will come in.

But I'm learning to get passed that, I love to write my weird little stories and here's some of the places in my real life where I've found inspiration:



Diablo Lake is here in Washington State.

When I was a kid I thought the Devil lived in that lake and the hills were cut like that because the Devil would try to climb out and kept sliding back down again. I thought for sure he lived there and I refused to go anywhere near it.

I'm not kidding, when I was bad my Parents knew the way to get me in line was to threaten me with a trip to Diablo Lake.

I was about 7 at the time and I haven't been there in over 25 years.

I won't go near it.

Better safe then sorry.


Here's Devil's Elbow Bridge, I actually tore this picture out of a book when I was about 12 and had it taped to the inside of my notebook. When I look at this picture now and when I looked at it over 30 years ago for the first time I thought..."I'll bet no one human ever uses this bridge."

I still think that



Seattle's Underground

I work in a basement that's considered " underground Seattle" and it almost looks exactly like this and if you want to know where I get my ideas from...well...



I found this picture on line a year or so ago, it's a lighting storm and I believe this was taken in Seattle. It's funny because along with being done in by head- hunters (hey, sounds dumb but at least I'm not afraid to admit it) my number two fear is being hit by lighting.

I really haven't written about either one. I tried to write about headhunters once and I got so freaked out I actually padded it into the middle of another story.

So that’s how I’ve faced my fears and made them work for me and why I write what I write. From Weird little kid to the Weird Tales person from Deadwood Hall it’s been a great trip.

I hope yours will be as interesting.

Anita Marie