“How’s the novel?” she asked.
He peeled his face from the keyboard. “I’m stuck.”
“No worries.” She sat down. “The doctor is in. What’s the problem?”
“The hero discovers ancient lore that changes his world.”
“Sounds good.”
“But what’s the ancient lore?”
“Ah. When I get stuck I brainstorm. One rule: there are no bad ideas.”
“Okay.”
“So, maybe… a girl finds a flip phone in a dusty box, and when she picks it up, it rings.”
“I was thinking more ancient.”
She frowned. “No bad ideas.”
“Okay.”
“Okay… A guy is browsing a record shop.”
He blinked. “I’d have to explain records.”
“You’re not getting this.”
“Right. No bad ideas. Maybe… There’s a phone number hidden in a Da Vinci painting.”
“Dan Brown did that.”
“Not exactly.”
She shook her head. “You need original ideas.”
“I thought there were no bad ideas.”
“Well,” she rolled her eyes. “Not usually.”
