The Source Of An Idea

A question I am frequently asked, but for which I rarely have a good answer, is: Where do you get your ideas?

I haven't a clue. When asked this question, Harlan Ellison (one of my favorite sci-fi writers) says, "I buy them from a one-eyed beggar in the marketplace of Marrakesh." The great playwright, Arthur Miller, said, "Like every writer, I am asked where my work originates, and if I knew I would go there more often to find more."

A friend suggested I say this: "I could tell you but then I would have to kill you."

I don't know. Seems a bit over the top. :)