writing motivation

---

Writing ideas come from everywhere.  Look around.  Watch people.  Pay attention to things happening in your own family.  Stories come from your surroundings and experiences.  Here are a few of mine.  Look for them in my books!

The ideas for the characters in the Cousins Series come mostly from my family.  As you know I have 4 siblings.  Each one is married with children, so there are lots of cousins. Many times I combine my childhood experiences with my cousins along with my children’s experiences with their cousins.  I also throw in anecdotes from the students in my classroom.

Most of the Cousins Series revolves around my daughter.  She has a genetic condition called 22q Deletion Syndrome.  The character of Gabriella is based on her.  She suffers from a low immune system which means she gets sick easily.  She takes lots of medicine, and goes to the doctor often.  My daughter also has Autism.  She experiences lots of anxiety and likes things to remain the same.  She does not like change.

My son is also in the Cousins Series. The character of Carmelo is based on him.  He is a great big brother to my daughter, but I know at times she tries his patience.  He always took such great care of her in school and on the bus.  We missed him terribly when he went off to college.

I use real locations to create each story, and then add fiction.  Some of the true places for my stories are:

• Our backyard:  One dark night a big storm brought down 8 trees in our backyard.  Two of them landed on our house!
• The high school pool:  My son swam on his high school swim team.  One of the meets was against his cousin’s team.  Our families sat together at the swim meet to cheer on the boys.  It was so much fun.
• The riding stable:  My daughter takes horseback riding lessons at a therapeutic riding stable.   She rides in Special Olympics with their equestrian team.  
• The school:  My son was in the school spelling bee and made it to the 23rd round.

I add real situations in my stories.  Some of them are:

• My cousin and I would hide in the closet with a book and a flashlight, and we took turns reading.  I would read a paragraph and she would read an entire page!  I’ll be forever grateful to her for that practice and encouragement.
• Along with 22q Deletion Syndrome and Autism, my daughter has another medical condition called Scoliosis.  This is a sideways curve of the spine.  She wears a brace, made of hard plastic, that wraps around her body from under her arms to above her legs.
• Our family has a large trunk (suitcase) that our grandparents used when they emigrated from Italy in 1924.  It was stored in Nana’s attic for a long time and was given to us a few years ago.
• In college I was in the marching band and we practiced each day for about 2 hours.  I lost my bracelet during one of the practices and found it later in the cuff of my pants.
• The interaction between Leah and Josh happened in my 6th grade classroom. 
• My niece has diabetes.
• I taught electricity for many years and had my students make electromagnets.
• When my son was young he wanted us to build a tower that extended from his room so that he could study the stars.