What a great question—inspiration is so hard to pinpoint! For me it comes from everything around me, from the people I talk to to the books I read, the music I hear, the movies I see. But for SKYLARK, I can actually point to a single moment that inspired the idea for the world, which then led to everything else.

I was listening to the radio in my car, and NPR was doing a segment about the energy crisis, and the various pote...