The idea for The Three Madelines novels was born one day when I was driving my daughter home from gymnastics practice. We live in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, which is situated on the rolling landscape of the American high prairie. I looked out into a large swath of open space and saw a lone tree sitting in the middle of the field. We have these great, old oak trees here that dot the landscape, many of which sit at the edge of deep gullies that have been created from a century or more of natural drainage.