How does an author get ideas?

Ideas for children's books are all around us. The beauty of being a mother is I get lots of ideas from my children. After all, I'm living with the readers of children's books. Or the kids say something funny and "Eureka! That would make a great title!" The ideas are the easy part, writing the book is the difficult part. My latest manuscript idea actually came from our dog, Harry Potter - who we usually call Harry. He is a 75 lb. mutt (mostly English Setter, hound and who knows?) that we adopted from Above and Beyond English Setter Rescue. As Harry was trying to squeeze onto my lap one day, the kids said "Harry sure would like it if he was a small dog." Another Eureka moment! My manuscript is now with my editor and I'm awaiting word on it being acquired. Take a look around...ideas are everywhere. Be open to the possibilities...think like a child...look at a situation from a different perspective. Your next great manuscript could be right in front of you! Oh, and if you are interested in adopting a wonderful dog, look on http://www.petfinder.com/ or adopt an English Setter from http://www.esrescue.org/ . The dogs in my life have served as best friend, running partner, babysitter, guard dog and couch potato. These incredible creatures get a second chance in life and you gain a lifelong friend.