Inspiration is everywhere. From a song you hear on the radio to a photo you find on Pinterest, the world is chock full of inspiration.

For me, inspiration came while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This is a tradition that I enjoy every year, but the 2017 parade will always be my favorite. During that parade, the cast of Broadway's Anastasia performed "Once Upon a December" and absolutely killed it! I knew that the song sounded familiar, and after doing some digging on YouTube, I discovered it was from a movie I'd been obsessed with as a kid. And once I found out that the movie was based on a real princess, I went down the research rabbit hole and became a Romanov expert.

Pretty soon, the beginnings of Rise's plot were spinning around my mind like leaves in an autumn breeze. And before I knew it, the characters were coming to life and the plot was growing. Rise had been born.

And it never would have happened if I hadn't watched that parade. So, if you're a writer struggling with writer's block, don't forget to look for inspiration in unexpected places. You never know what you may find or what all you'll gain from it!