. . . no matter where you go, east, west, north, and south, there are stories. People are forever asking me where I get my ideas, but one only has to listen, to look, and to live with awareness. As I have said in several of my stories, all men look, but so few can see. It is all there, waiting for any passerby. Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour

Patry Francis, the novelist who blogs at Simply Wait, fits with this quotation. For all I know she got the name of her blog from Louis L’Amour’s book, although I can’t find anything that says so. Maybe great minds just think alike.

Anyway, I have been so impressed with way that Ms. Francis finds stories just lying in wait for her in the most unlikely places: a New Orleans cab, behind the scenes at the country club, at the gym, even walking by a neighbor’s house.

Ms. Francis obviously listens to the stories that intersect her life. That’s something I’d like to learn to do.