Goodreads asked Rob Bauer:

How do you get inspired to write?

Rob Bauer Writing history is like putting together a puzzle. You get all this evidence, all this good information, and then you have to reassemble what you know into an attractive picture that is coherent, logical, and fits together properly. This is, of course, an enormous challenge. It's also a very gratifying one when you finish and you know you've created the best book you're capable of.

With fiction it's different for me. When I write fiction, I write for the challenge of creating something people will enjoy that's entirely my own creation. Yes, I do research and use real events to help craft the story, but how the characters and plot turn out is all up to me. That's a different challenge than writing history, and I've found that while making up a story sounds easy, it's a lot harder than most people think.

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