Goodreads question #6: Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Victor D. Lopez My short story collection, Mindscapes, contains an eclectic mix of stories most of which touch in some way on the nature of knowledge and the interplay between the conscious and subconscious minds. At least two of the stories are inspired by dreams ("Mergs or Why Godot Can't Come" and "Earth Mother") but most are the product of my fertile imagination and reflect my interest in both the natural sciences and social sciences. As with most science fiction, I usually begin with a simple premise (what if . . .) and allow the story to evolve as I write it--sometimes leading into places I did not mean or expect to go. "What if our subconscious minds contain the collective consciousness of our ancestors?" "What if we could communicate with other intelligent life on our planet?" "What if black holes hold the secret to the creation and destruction of an unlimited number of universes?" "What if an alien from another planet made you an offer too good to pass up?" And so on.