Who are "The Hens"? And what do they have to do with Moonlight Cowboy?

 Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Over the years of working on my writing craft, people have often asked me that very question. I wish I could say the ideas for my stories materialize in my brain and flow directly to my fingertips in captivating prose.

Hint: If anyone tells you that happened—Drop the book and run!

I’m not saying God doesn’t plant an idea into an author’s head—because He can. But mostly, writing is hard work. Long before the paragraphs come close to resembling the finished product, the author outlines the main plot and adds layers of detail to make the story more interesting.

One layer I added to Moonlight Cowboy is the story of the women I affectionately call “The Hens.”

One day I stumbled onto an article about nine women who started a mail-order bakery and kept it a secret for three decades. Their mission statement? To create happiness.

How much more interesting would it be to place them on an island as matchmakers and “mother hens” to the younger generation of Victory Island residents I asked myself.

As the real-life story has it, the woman’s routine started at 4 a.m. and in the space of a few hours, they had baked hundreds of pound cakes and prepared them for shipment. Then they’d slip into their normal lives with no one the wiser—including their husbands.

So, did they create happiness in real life? They sure did. The article explained that thirty-five years and nearly a million dollars later, they had helped many people in need.

You can find out more about their lives online if you search for “NineNanas.” And you can see their tale woven into the lines of Moonlight Cowboy, which is on pre-sale in Kindle and Nook form until March 14th. And the release of the paperback scheduled for the same date.