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Today's tip of the hat for creative assistance goes to the Dachshund of Doom. While I was doing the morning walk I had a breakthrough about a clue I need to plant towards the end of the WIP. I know I wouldn't have had this flash of brilliance on my own. It took the mindless activity of walking Her Highness to stimulate the braincells.

Showering is my other favorite mindless activity to stimulate the brain cells, but with our bathroom undergoing remodeling I don't have a shower stall that's bland and comfortable enough for my mind to turn off. No, while I'm using the hall bath it's all about how quickly can I get in-and-out and why am I the only one in the house who notices the need for re-grouting?

And the clue has to do with Gainesville's tourist highlight, The Devil's Millhopper. A friend of a friend once said, "Let me make sure I understand this--your town's claim to fame is a hole in the ground?" and that about sums it up. I'll be tweaking and renaming the sinkhole in my book to make it more fiction friendly, but this is a good time of year to do another walk down to the bottom of the Millhopper to recharge my creativity.

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