I live in coastal North Florida, and when I want to boost the atmosphere in one of my scenes, I take a walk.

While writing my novel set in a nature preserve threatened by big development, I often wrote outside or on location. I set up my laptop on a picnic table at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve and let my surroundings flow directly into the story.

Sometimes, I’ll take a notebook and pen to the beach and do my writing from a beach chair.

Even staying home and writing on the patio, I often see waterfowl landing in the pond behind my house.

We have many tropical birds here, including Roseate Spoonbills (pictured), egrets, herons, and storks. The sight of these never ceases to amaze me, as I grew up in the Mid-Atlantic region and moved to Florida as an adult. I haven’t lost my sense of wonder for my surroundings. They always inspire me.