Some authors don’t like to reveal the intricacies of their creative process.  Not me.  When kids ask me where ideas come from, I tell them straight out: the bathroom at Big O’s restaurant.  It was a long line at Big O’s here in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  So I thought, I’ll just pop into the restroom.  As I was washing my hands, what did I see but a framed vintage postcard that said something like, “Tillie the Terrible Swede Rides Past the Pantlind Hotel.”  Being a curious sort, I thought to myself, ‘Who would have a name like Tillie the Terrible Swede?’  So I started doing a little research.  That was in 2005.  I got so excited about this lady that I made a scrapbook of all the old news articles I found (you can see it in an album on my Facebook page–Sue Stauffacher Books) and sent it to my editor, Nancy Hinkel, in New York.  Six years later (in January 2011), Tillie will debut in picture book form.