When people ask where I got the idea for The Good Sister, I don’t have an easy answer. I was living in a town much like the setting of the story when I was writing it, and inspiration was all around me. The characters in the story aren’t based on anyone I knew. Rather, they came to me as fully formed people, alive in their own right. Asha came to me first, and she’s the character I most identify with. Sarah came next, and finally Rachel. Rachel’s character evolved a bit as I wrote her story, and I didn’t realize until the end just how important she is. The male characters–Sin, Krishna, Tristan–were also fully formed people when they arrived in my mind, and these people all dictated what the plot would be. I just listened to them and the story they had to tell.

That makes me sound a little crazy, I know.