Towering Pines was born out of the idea to set a ghost story at a historic site that no longer existed. I chose Admiral Farragut Academy in Pine Beach, NJ because of my time there and knowledge of the surrounding area. The idea for Liam was based on a combination of arrogant teenagers I knew growing up -- and then I added the change that can be affected by attending the school to account for his growth as a person. Lisbeth is actually a combination of Lisbeth from Stiegg Larsson's novels and Sookie Stackhouse's spunk.