Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

One of the more common questions people ask is: "Where do you get your ideas?"

For me, most stories come from the everyday things I see in my daily travels. Often a few unrelated events will come together in my mind at the same time, a character appears, and the story starts to tell itself. The stories often just spring to life, all on their own.

For example, there's a strange house in our neighborhood, one that doesn't quite fit in:

Every now and then, when I'm walking our dogs, I see a pale...