One of the most frequent questions I get as an author is how I find the idea for each book. I usually have an origin story ready to go. It’s eloquent, linear, concise, and often…oversimplified. After all, how can we pinpoint the germination of an idea that’s been watered by so many drops of rain? Photo: Susannah Richards. The story I tell about Everything We Never Had begins with the birth of my son five years ago. Like all new parents, I wondered, How do I do this?