Goodreads asked R.A. McCandless:

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

R.A. McCandless I like my historical fiction and fantasy to have dirt on the pages, with relateable heroes who have legitimate flaws of time and place. I just finished a short story called “Grenadiers and Dragon’s Fire” which Harren Press will be publishing in their steampunk anthology "Gears, Gadgets and Steam", and in researching for it, I discovered that some of the military innovations during the American Civil War and the Crimean War were misused because tactics hadn’t caught up to the technology. Despite the advent of repeating rifles and increased range of ammunition, most of the strategy was still based on putting soldiers in a line and marching them toward the enemy position, then slugging it out. They were caught up in their own experience and training, and, as with all humans, had a tough time moving past and innovating. That's where the bulk of my stories come from—life is advancing, and sometimes we aren't ready for it.

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