Colorado abounds in wonderful places to visit — the Rocky Mountains, numerous parks and recreation areas, great cities like Denver, and plenty of historic sites. My beloved co-author and I were fortunate to visit the state during a driving vacation last June. As part of the trip, we spent a few days in Colorado Springs, a delightful city with plenty to see.

Today’s writing inspiration has a slightly different “origin story” than the others. Usually, a place I’ve visited in the past makes such a strong impression that years later it sparks my imagination to write a scene in a book. Today’s inspiration involved almost the opposite process — the proposed scene was already planned for the manuscript, but needed a good setting.

During NaNoWriMo last month, as John and I were rushing to plot out new chapters to keep ahead of my daily word count, we needed a setting for a major fight scene about two-thirds of the way through the manuscript. When we originally drafted the outline, I had imagined the scene taking place in a basement of a building, but by the time I started writing the actual chapter, the basement idea no longer fit within the larger context of the story. I was at a loss for an appropriate location.

Fortunately, my beloved co-author had a great idea. (Most of our great story ideas come from him.) He reminded me about the historic Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine we had toured while we were staying in Colorado Springs. He suggested that we set the fight scene in a mine. The idea fit well with the story and provided an interesting setting at the same time, so we used it in the book.

The mine we visited, by the way, was not actually located in Colorado Springs, but it was an easy day-trip away. For that reason, I’ve included it in this blog post as a Colorado Springs destination. (If I have offended any Colorado folks by doing so, I apologize!)

Of course, a mine in a fantasy story is not the same as a historic mining operation of the American Old West. The mine that appears in our manuscript only vaguely resembles the one we saw during the trip, but it was a great inspiration nonetheless.

It was also a great tourist destination. If you travel to Colorado and enjoy visiting historic places, I would definitely recommend the mine tour. You take an elevator far below the ground to start the tour, and the guide explains the history of the mine as you walk through the tunnels. It was a fun adventure! (Though it was probably NOT a place for the claustrophobic — the elevator was small and crowded.)

Talk to you next Friday!

-Susan 12/10/2021