Goodreads asked Philippa Dowding:

What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

Philippa Dowding Hi Goodreads (thanks for asking). Believe it or not, I've already written a book with one of my real-life mysteries in it: Myles and the Monster Outside (my middle-grade horror story from 2015). It's about a young boy, travelling across the country with his family, and on the last night of their 4-day car trip, he sees a monster outside the car window.
The monster follows them.
Many years ago, I was driving across the country, and was on the final 10-hour leg of a 5 day trip, at 2 in the morning, in central Ontario. Tired, sick of driving, probably a little delirious, I took the passenger seat while my then-boyfriend (now-husband) drove for a while. The car slowed suddenly, and I woke to see ... something ... out the window.
It was something I can't really describe. Huge, black, loping in the ditch, moving fast toward the car. It looked at me with RED EYES. I shouted, "Watch out!"
Then the thing was gone.
My boyfriend didn't see it.
What was it? He tried to convince me it was a coyote? A dog? It was moving too fast to be a cow ...
Shortly after that sighting, the car broke down and we spent the night sleeping in a deserted parking lot with one lamp post keeping the wild things at bay.
Well, my boyfriend slept. I didn't. All I could see, was a pair of red eyes running toward the car ...

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