Recently I was invited to do a guest blog for Madam Mayo, using a simple format: I had to provide five links that are in some way relevant to my new novel. (Other writers have used this format in all kinds of ways – 5 Secrets of Mexico City, Top 5 Aviation Museums, 5 Magnetic Spaces – as you can see.) Rooting around for ideas, I opened a file I kept while working on Bird in Hand. As I leafed through this file I could trace the genesis of my ideas. So I chose some passages that shaped my novel-in-progress – and why. That post is here.