Goodreads asked David Odle:

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

David Odle It was a combination of ideas, but one in particular gave birth to the character. As a young child, we'd visit a nursing home not far from where I grew up. Several of the tenants took the time to speak with us and tell us stories, often about World War II, the Great Depression, and other interesting experiences they'd had. One tenant in particular, a blind man with sweeping gray hair, would give the children puppet shows. As I'd sat cross-legged amongst my kindergarten classmates, my mind wandered and I imagined the kind blind man as a wizard fighting monsters. Years later, this memory resurfaced and bamb, Markus was born!

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