People tend to ask writers where they get their ideas. I often have no clue how to answer that question. Perhaps it was the well-turned phrase of a dinner companion, an article I read, or even a film I watched. Maybe it didn’t come from any of those sources. It’s possible that I wanted to write about a specific topic, but I was waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. The dancing muse upon my shoulder whispered something in my ear, and then I had the audacity to shout, “Eureka! That’s perfect!”

I’m not the only writer who often sits back in awe of that miraculous crumb of a story. Where did it come from? It just appeared out of the ether. Maybe it crawled out of the corner of the wall there, from another dimension. Before I start to scare you, let me explain how the creative process…