How a Cat Toy Inspired Both a Scene and My Characters' Personalities

It was a Christmas present for our cats one year, a laser pointer on a keyring, a cat toy. The cats just didn't get the red mouse outline that appeared when I pushed the button, so I unscrewed the tip for them. They loved chasing the plain red dot.

As I played with them, I studied that dot. It looked like a locked-in laser sight--and I knew I had to use it in a book.

What kind of woman would use a cat toy against a bad guy? A gutsy, clever, independent, quirky, talkative heroine from a military family. And the much-tried, quiet, ex-military hero would have to find ways to cope with her and their situation, ways that didn't include strangling her.

The scene using the cat toy would be a fakeout situation, so she'd have to use it from cover. Why was she hiding? What if she were being hunted and ran into a cornfield like those in the last scene of the movie Casino? I'd already set the book in the tropical highlands of Brazil, the cerrados, which is a vast agricultural area. So who was hunting her and why? How did she end up in this mess anyway?

Therein lies the tale--and I called it Sanctuary.

P.S. My remaining cat still enjoys chasing that red dot.