Becoming a mother cannot help but change things. An author's life is reflected in their writing, whether they want it to be or not, and parenthood is one of the biggest life changes there is.

So, one of the things I was doing with the aliens in The Quiet Invasion was creating that advanced society which had ideas about morality and proper use of natural resources that were radically different from ours, as the Europeans were from the American Indians.

All of this got me thinking about the history of the westward expansion, and got me to wondering how the exploration of the Solar System would be changed if there were an indigenous presence out there.

I did not want to write a story about the invasion of Earth, so I had to create a race capable of living nearby, which meant to either on the Moon, on Mars, or on Venus. I picked Venus.

I have a better internal and intuitive understanding of folklore and myth than science and technology, so in that way fantasy is easier.

I think the diversity of authors and readers is expanding, which is wonderful, because it means the type of story being told is also expanding.

Actually, after while, finding the ideas is the easy part. Sorting them through and turning them into stories, now, that's the hard work.