Goodreads asked Debbie Burns:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Debbie Burns Often I have a hard time pinning down when the seed of a story begins. Most of my characters and major plot points grow from whispers of disjointed ideas until they are morph into something solid enough to demand their place in a story. In MY FOREVER HOME, Tess and Mason pair up to catch a free-roaming stray dog. My idea for this dog began more than twenty years ago in a personal encounter with a stray who was roaming the streets near my work. My interaction with this resilient dog was powerful enough that he has held a place in my heart for a long time.

By writing about John Ronald, the fictional stray who’s named by Mason after the line “Not all those who wander are lost” by J.R.R. Tolkien, I felt as if I was finally giving this real-life wanderer a bit of the praise he deserved. My wish to tell John Ronald’s story was the seed idea for MY FOREVER HOME, and then characterization for Tess and Mason came easily as I mulled over who’d be best be able to bring John Ronald's story to light.

flag