Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.

- Erich Fromm

Trivia: Barbara Cartland (The True Queen of Romance [Vogue]) is the world’s top-selling author with over 500 million copies sold.

Day of the Dead by Diego Rivera

I think on-stage nudity is disgusting, shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a progressive religious experience.

- Shelley Winters (1922 - 2006)

Superstition: If a robin flies into a room through a window, death will shortly follow.

I swear on the sacred name of blogger that one day I will write a story where some secondary characters are a funny were-Armadillo and his wife. There must be a scene where the wife puts a upturned laundry basket over the husband when he is in his were-armadillo form because she gets annoyed that him and another paranormal creature were out fighting crime or something. I just had this random thought after reading a review for the Big Kahuna.

Anyone else just love looking at pictures to give them a little inspiration? I do. Its not how the picture them selves look or what is in them. Its the feeling that I get from them. Its the way that the colors contrast. Its the names written in the tiny credit font in the corner. I can think of stories about the pictures at a drop of the hat.

In my search for pictures on the web, I have found Deviant Art and Iqons. The first website is a artist community where members post drawings, writing, photos, and other forms of artwork. This isn’t a professional site, but even the crudest paintings can inspire. Just look at cave drawings! The second site is the fashion version of myspace. It has the usual mix of designers, models, magazines, and the fashion forward. There are some truly talented and beautiful people on that site.

Foreign magazines are also quite fun to look at. My best friend brought me back a fashion magazine from Tokyo, and it is just really interesting to see the different aesthetics between my American culture and the culture shown in the magazine. Small home-grown magazines (not just fashion ones) can jump start an idea or two. Searching around for some local music rags in your area might show your muse where exactly the perfect heroine for your hero(ine) is. A punk rock chick for a stuffy banker? Anything is possible with romance!

Any style mags from the New Yorker, W, and Home and Garden are game for perusal. Heck, I’ve been known to get an idea or solution to a plot problem from flipping through the Weekly World News in line at the grocery store!