Just read her account of helping the stabbed and dying man in Woolwich. And then her pretty long conversation with the killer while he held a meat cleaver in his hand and a gun I think.

She is a very brave woman, ice cool.

I read the paper every morning and find so much there that's fascinating and amazing particularly with news stories. I'm always amazed when people say they want to write but don't have any ideas for a story. The problem for me is deciding what story to pursue there is so much.

Where do others get their inspiration?

Mine comes from all over: the papers, my own life, movies, song lyrics are particularly powerful for me - the distillation of a feeling.

I agree – there are so many characters we meet in everyday life and so many events in which to place them that it is difficult to know which ones to write about in depth. I am writing a memoir at the moment, but I am always on the lookout for ideas for when I’ve finished. The news is always a big inspiration – more for scenes than characters, for me personally. And I love people watching. There is nothing better than trying to put together a whole personality and life from a few observations about a stranger. In my lifewriting, my challenge is to try to capture the essence of a person from a few small (often hazily remembered) details and bringing them to life, which can be tricky. Things like smells and music come in to play for both my fiction and non-fiction. I find music particularly evocative, because I sometimes find I want to play scenes out to a soundtrack in my head before getting them down on paper.

You're absolutely right about news stories. There is a never-ending source if you look. Big stories(like Woolwich) and small stories from local newspapers can sometimes tie together.
The terrible case of James Bulger got me thinking about how someone so young could do such a thing. Then I wondered; if you absolutely knew that the boys would commit the crime before they did it, what would you do? Who would believe you?
Then I recalled poor Gregory Peck in The Omen, and how that looked to the world when he appeared to be trying to kill a child.
That's what started 'The Gift' for me.

Apologies if that was a bit TMI!

Billy, your plot sounds really interesting!

Thank you.
I just wish I had the time to get to grips with it! It's taken ages just to reply to your post.
That's life I suppose.