Goodreads asked Douglas Richardson:

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

Douglas Richardson In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I often found myself (for various reasons) wandering alone in Santa Monica, California. I spent a lot of time in the Barnes & Noble on the Third Street Promenade, where many homeless people also found refuge. I wondered about their stories. Then, one day during these years, while I was stressed out at work, my mind flashed back to a memory of a college acquaintance who, while drunk, attempted to eat the number off of his apartment door. We were able to stop him from swallowing it (thank God), but a small nail from the number had punctured his lower lip and the blood was running down his chin and neck. This memory, coupled with my wanderings in Santa Monica, led to what is now American Strays.

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