Inspiration's All Around Me...

I'm often asked where I get my inspiration for the stories and characters I write. If you're a writer, you understand that's pretty much an impossible question to answer.

Inspiration is all around us, inside us. And it's usually not one thing that inspires a story or a character, it's a thousand little things that snowball into a germ of an idea which grows into something incredibly fantastic. Something we have to write about.

That's what it is for me, anyway. I can't point to a single instance and say "That inspired Morgan Bailey." What I can do is show you the places that make up Morgan Bailey's world...

I'm originally from Portland, Oregon. Portland is an amazing city, full of the wonderful and weird. It felt natural to make it Morgan's home, too. I decided that if I was going to use a real city, I was going to use real places, too. At least as much as possible. Some places are obviously made up. Fringe, unfortunately, doesn't exist. But there are plenty of places that do.

Take this building, for instance...

This building inspired the detective agency where Morgan works and which her best friend, Kabita Jones, owns. I think the real building is a cafe or something, but that's the beautiful thing about imagination. It's now an the location for an undercover monster hunting operation. Oh, yeah, baby!

How about this one:
Funky, no?

It's a real shop in Portland called The Third Eye. They sell everything from incense and die-dye t-shirts to tarot cards and crystals. It's pretty obvious it inspired the occult bookstore Majicks and Potions owned by Eddie Mulligan.

Morgan's favorite coffee shop is Common Grounds. Guess what, it's my favorite coffee shop in Portland, too. Yes, it's real and yes, the coffee is fantastic.

Morgan likes to hunt on the ground of the Pittock Mansion. Bet the Historical Society would be surprised it's a hunting ground favorite by vampires. They would probably NOT be surprised to find out it's a lover's lane of sorts.

Growing up in this city with this view, how could I NOT be inspired?

What places inspire you?