I'd been "inducted" into the world of romance writers and found them gutsy, bright and underestimated. Being the kind of person I am, I thought what fun it would be to pit a romance writer against a US Marshal. It was a hoot taking all the misconceptions about romance writers and using them against my poor hero. I liked the idea of the hero finding himself attracted, totally against his will, of course--to a woman he believes is already dead. I found I couldn't sustain it for long, just because my guy was so darn smart, but that meant I needed a killer with a twist, someone who could, at least for a short time, muddy the crime scene.
I'm a bit afraid of heights myself and one night I had this vivid dream about a wacko forcing my dream character to face her fears out on this ledge. When I originally started the story, it was set in New Orleans, but I needed a place with a FreeNet (at the time) to make the story work. And Denver had one and Lots of "up" for Dani to be afraid of. Of course, by the time I finished rewriting the book, technology had changed so much, she didn't need access to a free net to do what I needed her to do. I had this whole, hilarious scene with Dani in a library that I deleted. And another where she dressed like a man.
My husband had a business trip to Denver, so I asked him to check out the area, scope out the Federal building (which got him in a spot of trouble with some real US Marshals as he was taking pictures of the building and being was most thorough about it.) After that, being a National Park addict, hubby made his way to Rocky Mountain National Park and brought me back info on Long's Peak--the only "teener" (Peak 13,000 ft above sea level) that you can actually hike up. It was perfect for my (and Spook's twisted) purposes.