Topic: What inspired you to write the novel we're spotlighting? And what was the one part of it the most challenging? Many people ask about my inspiration for writing Drowning Mermaids , but the answer is not simple and easy to explain. A writer uses everything in their life for inspiration; there are always stories rattling around in his or her skull. I used to imagine scenes while listening to my iPod on long bus rides to school or work, and nowadays I often imagine dialogue while driving. When situations in my own life don’t go as planned, I often feel the need to rewrite them with an outcome more perfectly to my liking. When friends tell me stories about important events in their lives, I listen carefully and sometimes manage to work them into my writing. My friend Samantha was a huge inspiration for the character Aazuria in my Sacred Breath series, and not just because she has nearly drowned on three separate occasions. (One of those times involved a giant...