Frequently Asked Questions How did you come into writing? Where do you get your story ideas? How did you find an agent/publisher? Do you have a disciplined writing schedule? What do the people of Battle Lake think of your mystery series? I get a lot of my inspiration in dreams and sleep with a journal next to my bed. I also pay attention to the world. I'm an avid people-watcher, eavesdropper, and listener, and much of what I see, hear, and read morphs into stories. However, many of my ideas (and often the ones I consider my best writing) come out of whole cloth -- I am at my computer, committed to turning out at least five pages, and once the pump is primed, the story unfolds from the cosmos, through me, and onto the page.