By Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold

“Where do you get your ideas?”

This is of course the classic eye-rolling writer question.  In speculative fiction, the question can run much deeper than it does in other genres.  There are as many ways to address this with serious intent as there are writers to address, but we have chosen two main aspects to emphasize.

The first aspect of this question is a matter of definition.  What is an idea?  Wha...