Story inspiration is everywhere. Seriously. It can be sparked by something you see in real life, or on TV, or social media. Another word for a story idea is plot bunny.
A plot bunny is a story idea that refuses to go away until it is written. I wasn’t sure where the term originated, but according to Google, the term is thought to be related to the John Steinbeck quote about ideas and rabbits: “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
Today, I’d like to tell you about the plot bunny that started off the Buffalo Bedlam Book Club. Yes, my hockey team has a book club.
And my inspiration for the idea came from seeing a few real-life hockey players posting books they were reading on social media. Sometimes, they’ll post it as their reading material while flying to away games. Other times, it might be posted during the off season or a day off.
I’m a huge reader, and I exchange paperbacks with my sister and aunt all the time. So I thought, what if the hockey player loves a book and then passes it along to his teammate? Like, “Dude, you HAVE to read this.”
And so, the Buffalo Bedlam Book Club was born.
The book club started after Anton Celek read a book, loved it, and recommended it to Vince Forsberg, and then Vince read it and recommended it to Leo Brennan, and then Leo recommended it to Rod and Dylan Fraser, and Slater Knox. They held an impromptu book discussion, and after that, the book club became a regular thing. Each month, the teammates vote on the next book to read. Not everyone on the team participates, and not everyone participates every month. Spouses and significant others are welcome to join in. And thanks to the players posting the books on social media, even some of the fans read along.
You first see a reference to the book club in Skating on Chance, and again in Holding on Tight. It’ll be featured even more in the upcoming books in the series. I’m having a lot of fun with this idea, and it, like multiplying rabbits, has sparked inspiration for scenes in the books, and I cannot wait to share them with you!
So, there you have it. One of my most favorite plot bunny stories.
Let me know if you’ve ever been in a book club, and what your experience was like. And if you want to read more about my Bedlam boys, you can do that right here.
Until next time, Happy reading!