Goodreads asked Robert D. Calkins:

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

Robert D. Calkins The scenes in my books all begin with actual searches I've been on. The endings, however, are where the fiction comes in. Most searches end routinely. But good dog handlers always do what athletes call "visualization." They challenge themselves by thinking through potential outcomes- even outlandish ones.

"If this person doesn't WANT to be found and runs, what will I do?" (I'm too old to chase people. I'll get a compass bearing and call it in. At least we know they're safe.) "What if I find them and it's obviously a murder?" (Freeze! Then stop, think and figure out how to back out of the scene without destroying the killer's footprints.)

Those kinds of self-training efforts at visualization have become the ingredients for my books.

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