“No matter what, I first need inspiration to kick start my writer’s imagination.”

That’s how Francis Longworth Billingsley, self-described outsider artist and fiction writer, begins his creative process. Inspiration, he explains, can come from the most unexpected sources — a person, a place, or even a fleeting moment that ignites the imagination.

“For example, in Dancing with Spies @Goddess, my beautiful Russian dance instructor Alakasandra provided the wonderful mental images of a beautiful dancer,” Billingsley recalls.
“In addition, my once-in-a-lifetime vacation to Havana, Cuba continually lifted the passion factor and persistence needed to tell a historic, fiction-based espionage love story.”

In contrast, his novel George Turner’s Ghost took shape from a very different spark of inspiration.

“There really was a 1941 tragedy involving Supervisor George Turner,” he explains. “But my idea of a new, present-day fictional supervisor—set in that same historic neighborhood with its old meetinghouse church and burial ground—gave the story an unmistakable All Hallows’ Eve atmosphere.”

On Imagination and Exploration

For Billingsley, creative writing is about curiosity as much as it is about passion.

“If something—a person, place, or thing—captures my imagination or curiosity, then I can enjoy planning different possibilities to explore.”

This open-minded approach is what fuels his diverse storytelling, blending historical intrigue with emotional depth and local character.

The Digital Age and the Outsider Writer

Billingsley also reflects on the opportunities that modern platforms have created for independent artists.

“If Wild Filmmaker and FilmFreeway weren’t available to submit my works to—like Dancing with Spies—it might have died on the vine,” he admits.
“Or what if there had not been an Amazon Kindle KDP or Kobo for publications for an outsider artist writer like me to submit to? It could have been impossible to develop an audience.”

Still Creating at 76

Now based in the Village of New Paltz, a college town in the Hudson River Valley of upstate New York, Billingsley remains as active as ever in the arts scene.

“Not only have I acted in two student film productions,” he says, “but I’m in the process of joining forces in some collaborative projects of major interest to me… while I am seventy-six years old and still creating.”

And that, perhaps, is the essence of Francis Longworth Billingsley’s story — a life driven by curiosity, creativity, and a relentless desire to explore the possibilities of art, no matter the medium or the age.