Cathy Lamb…Three Things That Inspire My Book Ideas…

• Images. I had an image of a crying woman throwing her fluffy wedding dress into a dead tree on a deserted street. That launched Julia’s Chocolates. I had another image of a woman dropping peanut oil into her cheating boyfriend’s condom. He was allergic, although not deathly so, to peanuts. My husband of 20 years is allergic to nuts. I was mad at him that day. That image became The Last Time I Was Me.

• My life. Many years ago I wrote an article about bariatric surgery for obese people and their difficult journeys. That article launched Such a Pretty Face. Stevie Barrett loses 170 pounds, and her whole life changes.

The idea for Henry’s Sisters came, partly, from a Goodwill advertisement. In it, a beautiful young man with Down syndrome is being hugged by his father. I was so touched by that photo. He became Henry.

• Anything. Lavender. Art. A psychic. Wind. Hood River. A beauty parlor. A crime. Mental health issues. Marriage. WW II. Herbs and flowers. Ancestral lines. Cupcakes.

If You Could See What I See is about Meggie O’Rourke, who just returned from traveling the world after a tragedy in her life. “You could ask me where I wandered,” she says. “I would tell you I took a skip and a dance into hell.”

Meggie has been appointed the CEO of Lace, Satin, and Baubles, a lingerie company founded by her grandmother, Regan O’Rourke. Regan came from Ireland, “After sliding off the curve of a rainbow with a dancing leprechaun and flying to America on the back of an owl.”

Regan refused to talk about her past, but the scars on her back told a harrowing story. She expects Meggie to turn the faltering Lace, Satin, and Baubles around … by tomorrow.

Meggie has a ribald, nationally renowned sex therapist mother and two fiery sisters who sometimes throw mannequins at each other.

As a marketing tool for the company’s website, Meggie decides to film the employees talking about their favorite bras. She hears humorous, heart breaking, riveting personal stories.

This book is about the messiness of family. It’s about love and marriage, when we can leave and when we can’t. It’s about women and lingerie, overcoming and moving forward.

Find out more at cathylamb.org.