I have thousands of digital photos in my archives, most of which were taken outdoors. (Quite a few of my iPhone photos are of my cats, but that’s a different story.) Since I’ve tried to keep in the theme of mysterious and spooky this month, I wanted photos to match. However, I learned something. Most of my pics were taken on days when there was bright sunshine. Kind of hard to see anything scary in that.
A couple of weeks ago, hubs and I had gone out to dinner. On the way home, we saw a gorgeous sunset. I was driving, and I couldn’t resist pulling onto a side road to take a photo. This is the result:
Okay, the colors on the horizon are beautiful. Nothing spooky. But then I noticed the sign, “No outlet.” A dead-end road. On the left, you can see the lights of a house. My creative brain started thinking, “What if a character found himself/herself stranded in such a place…”
Who knows? Maybe I’ll come up with a story someday.
Next week I’ll forgo my usual weekly topics. For those of you who follow Story Empire, the six contributing authors are doing a book tour called Something Wicked. I’ll be hosting Mae Clair, Staci Troilo, P. H. Solomon, C. S. Boyack, and Harmony Kent. In turn, I’ll be a guest on each of their sites. I hope you’ll join us! For more information about the tour, check out this page.
And now for the weekly writing links:
On This Site or Links about my Writing:
- Mystery Monday: Haunted Vicksburg
- Tuesday Book Share: Review of Will O’ The Wisp
- WIP Wednesday: The Keeper’s House
- Bad Moon Rising (With Video)
- Bad Moon Rising – Teri Polan’s Blog
On Story Empire:
- The Unrepentant Character – Mae Clair
- How to Get Your Book Sales Page Looking Good on Amazon – Harmony Kent
- Let’s Talk Regional – Mae Clair
On Other Writing Sites:
- The Final Cuts – Kill Zone
- Backstory: Relevant Information or an Inconsequential Event – A Writer’s Path
- NaNo Prep: Planning Your Novels – Fiction University
- Stayin on Track When Everything Falls Apart – Writers in The Storm
- Top Tips on Writing A Book Blurb That Really Sells – Nicholas C. Rossis
- How to Describe Your Main Character – Kill Zone
- Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Self Publishing – Nicolas C. Rossis
- Make Your Characters Vulnerable – Fiction University
- How to Create Dynamic Characters – A Writer’s Path
- 6 Habits To Build a Solid Writing Career – Writers in The Storm
- Commonly Miscategorized Genres and Subgenres – Kobo Writing Life
- How to Write With All Five Senses – A Writer’s Path
- Enhance Your Writing by Layering Scenes and Plot – Kill Zone
- Plotting, Pansting, and Personality Types – Writers in The Storm
- An Introverts Guide to Writer’s Conferences – Fiction University
- Does Your Story Need More Tension – A Writer’s Path
- Write About Your Passions – Nicholas C. Rossis
- NaNo Prep: Planning Your Novel’s Middle – Fiction University
Joan Hall 
Loved the photo.
What an imagination, girlfrien’
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Rae.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the photo, Joan. Yes, as soon as I saw it, I wondered what trouble waited for the unwary at the end of the road. 😯 Super post, and great links. Thanks for sharing. 🙂 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I might get a story out of this one yet!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on The Write Stuff and commented:
I missed sharing Joan’s latest Weekly update post Friday, because I’m just so far behind. But, better late than never. (I made that up, you know. 😀 ) Check out these great links, and then pass ’em on, please. Thanks, and thanks to Joan as always for compiling such great writing links! 🙂 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing, Marcia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve never been good at getting story ideas from photos, but this one actually has me thinking. (The sky was beautiful that night, by the way.)
Great post, Joan. And nice selection of links.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It was beautiful. Even more so in person.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great photo, Joan! It would make a fantastic album cover! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
After reading your comment, I thought of Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty.” Probably because I heard a couple of songs from that album this morning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the photo. Many possibilities in that one. Looking forward to our tour.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think the tour will be fun! This one’s been a long time coming. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I immediately focused on the No Outlet sign. Add that to the setting sun and I was already in semi-spooky mode. What does that say about me, I wonder?
It’s a great picture. It makes me think of desolation, a lonely road. A stray traveller could certainly find trouble waiting somewhere down that lane, especially as the sun sink lowers. You could easily conjure a story from this one, Joan. I think it would make a great writing prompt!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I once had a dream about a lonely road. It wasn’t this one but is in our area. Lots of possibilities with this.
LikeLike
I like seeing no outlet on the road. It sounds better than dead end. But the stories that can be drafted are something.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I agree, “No outlet” sounds much more ominous.
LikeLike
It is a pretty sunset. It didn’t look spooky at all until you went and pointed out the “no outlet” sign.:-)
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s what caused my mind to start wondering about the possibilities… But it was a gorgeous sunset.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Nicholas C. Rossis and commented:
It’s Friday… and Joan has more writing links for us!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for the reblog!
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂
LikeLike
I’m like you; I stop all the time to snap a photo. Electra used to complain about it but now she’s resigned to her fate, the poor girl 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
My husband has given up on me, LOL. At least now I use the iPhone most of the time instead of carting my camera around!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I used to carry a camera around all the time since I was a teen (starting with a lovely Yashika). Electra was pretty relieved when I finally started using my phone for that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a spooktactular photo! Thanks for the links, Joan, and have a great weekend 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Harmony! Hope you have a restful, relaxing weekend as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pretty sky but I wouldn’t want to break down there. Sounds like a fun tour.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It was actually pretty harmless, but the possibilities…
LikeLiked by 1 person