Goodreads asked Courtney Anz:

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

Courtney Anz In 2003, my husband and I took our 6-and 3-year-old daughters on a trip to see friends in Shanghai, China. We continued our travels to Beijing and Xian. In Xian, we had a wonderful English-speaking guide who gave us a tour of the Terracotta Warrior museum. On the way home, we passed Mount Li, which is a lone, low mountain with a tram to its peak. I asked her about it and she answered, "That's the tomb of Emperor Qin, who built the Terracotta Warriors." Immediately, I asked her if we could detour and go inside the tomb. She shook her head and even looked a bit nervous, explaining, "It is still sealed. There are rivers of poison and booby traps inside. No one can go inside!" To which my 6-year-old daughter replied, "Mommy! What if there's a dragon stuck inside!"
For years afterwards, we spent many dinner conversations having fun, making up stories about what could be inside that tomb. Eventually, I decided to write out ideas down in a story.

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