Goodreads asked Haris Orkin:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Haris Orkin I was a shy, skinny, bookish, bespectacled, and insecure twelve old living in the suburbs of Chicago when I first realized what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be James Bond. He had no fear and was confident in any situation and comfortable in his own skin. I think that was the biggest fantasy of all for an awkward pre-teen struggling through puberty. Later of course I realized that you’d have to be barking mad to actually do what James Bond does. And that brought to mind one of my favorite characters ever. Don Quixote. I could see the connections and from those connections “You Only Live Once” was born.

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