One of the common questions that authors face – certainly authors of speculative fiction, at any rate (myself included) – is ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ A similar, related inquiry is ‘How do you get your ideas down on paper (or computer, as the case may be) and get them to make sense?’ These are queries that most authors face at some point or other in their writing career (if they’re fortunate enough to have fans to ask them!), and there are as many answers to them as