Goodreads asked Jeffrey Westhoff:

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

Jeffrey Westhoff Back when I was still a feature writer at the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Ill., I was working on a story about teenage spy novels -- Alex Rider, Young Bond and the like. I attended a book signing by my author friend Laura Caldwell at Read Between the Lynes bookstore in Woodstock, Ill. Looking for sources, I asked Laura if she knew anyone writing a teenage spy novel. She misunderstood my question and said, "You're writing a teenage spy novel?" I told her no and she replied, "You should!" And I said, "You're right. I should!"

On the drive home that night, I had my title, my main character, and my first chapter sorted out. The article I was working on fizzled out, but I did get my first book out of it.

I give more details about the origin to The Boy Who Knew Too Much in my Tumblr. (See how hip I am? I call it "my Tumblr," not "my Tumblr blog"):

http://culturespy.tumblr.com/post/795...

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