Life and art borrow heavily from each other. I’ve written several characters whose personalities and idiosyncrasies were based on real people. I could then put those characters in anysituation and know how they’d behave. Art often imitates life. Recently, however, I experienced the converse in a way that was nothing short of spooky.

While working on a story that revolves around witchcraft in Scotland, and the horrific fates dealt out to alleged witches here, I created a character in the image...