One question every author gets, sometimes several times a day: Where do you get your ideas? I had the happy opportunity to sit in on a presentation by Gary Schmidt and chat with him later, and while I didn’t ask the question, I got loads of material for an answer. Speaking of questions: he began his presentation with the true story of creature-in-distress in San Francisco Bay.  The distress call sent by a ship’s captain failed to mention the type of creature it was, so when three men from the Humane Society set out in their 8-foot rubber dinghy they were stunned to encounter a 40-foot whale!  With determination, ingenuity,…