Keri asked Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger:

I was wondering where do you get your ideas for your books from?

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger Usually from travels. The Reschen Valley series is based on the political corruption, prejudice and greed that led to the building of the Reschensee reservoir in northern Italy. When I discovered that story, I felt it needed to be told.

Souvenirs from Kyiv and The Woman at the Gates were born of my interviews with my family about their journeys from Ukraine in WW2 to America.

The Girl from the Mountains was inspired by a friend's anecdote about her husband. When I heard the story, my mouth had fallen to the floor. I had to know who would go to such lengths to avenge themselves and how they were driven to that point. That turned out to be Magda.

And my Kitty Larsson series (this is a fun one; first one out April 14, 2023!) started with a discussion with my publisher about my 13 book ideas. They said, "We like idea number 14." I reminded them I sent only 13 ideas. And they said, "Yes, but if you take idea 5 and 7 and a little bit of that conflict in 12, then put it in nowhere further east than Vienna... or Paris, Paris would be better... then we've got idea 14."

I was so perplexed. I thought the last thing the world needed was another book set in WW2 France. I was also on holiday during that online meeting. I went back out to the beach and went for a hard swim in the sea. Like a lightning bolt, Kitty Larsson popped into my head. Just the name. And I waited. Nothing happened. Then I said, "Who are you Kitty Larsson?" And she replied, "I'm a charismatic American married to an Austrian diplomat. In 1937, Vienna. But I also speak fluent French."

I got out of the water, walked to my husband and said, "I need to talk." By the time dinner was done, we'd hashed out a pitch. Back then it was for one book; my best friend then said, "That's not a book. That's a series. I want to know what happens to her next."

Voila.

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