Tag Archive for: people watching

People Watching Opportunities

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by Sparkle Abbey

As writers we love watching people. Sitting back and looking for something that might spark an idea for a character or storyline. The clothes someone is wearing, a subtle hand gesture or facial expression, a speech pattern, any and all of that can inspire our characters. And conversations, too. Not that we’d ever eavesdrop…

At their core, people are fascinating. And when they get together, whether it’s a political caucus, a run on supplies at the hardware store, or a packed sports arena, those places they gather become prime people-watching territory. Here the political candidates, their staff, and the news media have all moved on. But now we’ve got a swim event with top-ranked Olympic swimmers in town and high-school basketball tournaments are in full swing. Hotels are packed, parking is at a premium, and we find ourselves with even more opportunities to observe and make notes.

There were the patient ones who waited in long lines, chatting quietly or on their cell phones. The elderly woman who grabbed the last hand sanitizer off the shelf looked like she’d just won the lottery. The guy who attempted to pay to get out of the parking garage with a credit card but was in the cash-only line was not feeling so lucky.

Over the past few weeks, we have definitely refilled our pool of creative ideas. And it isn’t even time for the Downtown Farmer’s Market or the Iowa State Fair, which takes people watching to a whole other level. We can’t wait!

What about you? Where do you people watch?

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee
Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets
cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get
together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 
They
love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest,
their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get
updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

People Watching – A Writer’s Hobby

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by Sparkle Abbey


If you haven’t heard, Iowa was quite a big deal this
week. According to the NBC evening news Monday night, the whole world watched
as we were the first state to caucus for the next president of the United
States. We’re not sure the whole world
was watching our state, but we were certainly watching the folks around us.

As writers we love people watch, looking for something
that might spark an idea for a character or storyline. The clothes someone is
wearing, a subtle hand gesture or facial expression, a speech pattern, any and
all of that can inspire our characters.
Photo: Laura Arenson

There’s no doubt about it, we hit the jackpot of people-watching
this week. At their core, people are fascinating. And we have to tell you, folks
are enthralling when they’re crammed in a hot, stuffy auditorium, passionately
trying to convince the room-at-large to vote for their candidate of choice.

There are a few people who literally thumped their
chest in emphasis, others who shared heartfelt stories of how a candidate had
personally helped them, moving listeners to tears. There were some who were so relieved
to be surrounded by like-minded people for the first time in months they
radiated relief.

There were a couple of young twenty-something girls who
caught our eye. Or more accurately, our ears. They chatted excitedly, heads
together, giggling about how there were so many good-looking single men in the
room. Men with jobs. They plotted how to snag a picture of a good-looking guy
on stage who was about to make a speech. Within seconds, the tall blonde pulled
out her cell phone to capture a quick photo of the “hot guy” under in the guise
of recording a woman’s impassioned speech. Somehow, those twenty-somethings
will make it into a story.

All thanks to the Iowa Caucus, we’ve collected details this past week and have refilled our pool of creative ideas. What about you? Where do you people watch?



Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write a national bestselling pet-themed mystery series set in Laguna Beach. The first book in the series Desperate Housedogs, an Amazon Mystery Series bestseller and Barnes & Noble Nook #1 bestseller, was followed by several other “sassy and fun” books in the series. The most recent installment is Downton Tabby and up next is Raiders of the Lost Bark. www.SparkleAbbey.com