Goodreads asked Arjay Lewis:

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

Arjay Lewis In June of 1999, out of the blue I had the desire to write a horror tale called The Dark. I had never written horror before and the idea of a night guard who saw things in the dark—that were actually there— was a leap for me. (That story eventually sold to H.P. Lovecraft Magazine of Horror.)
It wasn’t until the next day, when I read the news that Stephen King had been hit by a truck in Maine that I had the oddest feeling, and I thought to myself, “It was as if something needed that story to be written and since he couldn’t, it moved to me.” This, of course, was the height of ego. Mr. King is an amazing wordsmith and teller of tall tales, and far more adept a writer than I. But the thought stuck with me and I wondered what it would be like if there was something— an actual physical entity that could help people write— and not just write, but write best sellers.
That concept became The Muse.
And of course, since it is a world unto itself, I could imagine a way that a famous writer in Maine could pass a story down to a beginner writer in New Jersey. I also upped the stakes, by having my famous writer change into a semi-human killing machine, so that the other writer would need to rise heroically to save himself and his family.

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