Where do I get my ideas?

[image error]I know that I don’t write the typical stories.  It’s one of the most common things people tell me (thankfully, right after “this is so good!”).  But, it seems people want to know how I come up with these ideas.  Well, the answer is rather simple: art.

The picture at the top was the initial inspiration for Rise of the Iliri.  I stumbled across it somewhere, and it just moved me.  The carrion birds, the military that doesn’t quite fit into any classification, and the demeanor of the riders… It...