MY SILENT HEART sprang partly from my job at a general contractor. I was asked to come and fill in for a couple of months in the office—I didn’t leave for almost three years! I warned them I knew nothing about construction, being totally health-care oriented. But they were so nice to me, and gave me such interesting stuff to do, that I stayed longer than I intended. Thanks to Ken, Laura, Randy, John, Andy—great people who build good buildings. The second influence for the book is my beloved younger niece (also named Diane) who is a civil engineer. Like my fictional Diane, she’s had to prove herself in a "man’s job" all her professional life. I admire and respect her greatly.