This book takes the standard wands cups hearts and swords and instead breaks them down to their inspired units. Problem is it's not very inspired and rather droll. The worst is the lack of symbmols put this akin to the Ator Tarot, simplistic and getting more than a basic reading that pulls you and makes your mind alive, just isn't there. [...]

I have to produce short stories regularly --- three stories every month for a paying audience. I'm always eager to find tools that I can call upon if, at the last minute, my deadline is tomorrow and I don't yet have a story idea.

I also teach creative writing to graduate students, professional writers and advanced amateurs. I like to give students no-excuses tools that they can use to get back on track when they are feeling stuck, blocked, or creatively numb.

The Bright Idea Deck has already been a wonderfully flexible tool for my own writing. I have used it to help me think about my novel in progress. I used it yesterday and today to plot a story from scratch, a story that just went out to my subscribers. (For a detailed description of the cards I used and how I used them, see my May 3rd 2005 process journal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/bruce_h_r/).

In the past, I have adapted divination systems like the Tarot or the I Ching for brainstorming. One problem with using a Tarot deck or the I Ching is that it takes some time and experience to learn enough of the symbols to make creative use of them. The Bright Idea Deck, on the other hand, is immediately accessible. Pick a problem. Pick a card. Ask how the card might relate to the problem. Immediately you can start making connections because the objects in the illustration are modern, familiar, and loaded with associational meanings.

I like this deck so much that I am planning on taking it with me when I teach my writing seminars in Greece and Italy. I'm going to assign it as a brainstorming resource for my MFA writing students. I have even proposed a panel at the next conference of the Associated Writing Programs to talk about the deck and other brainstorming aids like it that really work for writers.

The deck won't do your thinking for you. Developing a good idea for fiction still takes time and effort. But the deck is a great starting point if you don't have an idea, and it's an effective aid to developing an idea you already have. I have never seen a creativity product that I liked as much as this one. I hope it stays in print forever!