“Where Do You Get Your Stories?” is a question Jon Mark Beilue hears often, and also the title of his latest book. That question, of where Beilue is going to get the next story, was one that consumed him, particularly his last 12 years as a columnist.

In Beilue’s words, “I had to fill a blank screen at least three times a week, and so finding stories was a constant churn. Sometimes it was a phone call or email, other times it was something I read. It could be an event, a scene, an observation or simply the evolving of life. I didn’t care how I got them, and that question often kept me awake at night.”

Beilue’s latest and greatest collection of columns is featured in this 256-page book. Among these pages are heartache, sacrifice, humor and inspiration. There are dogs and weddings, barbershops and trauma rooms. “Where did I get these stories?,” Beilue asks, “in many ways, I’m just glad I found them—and wrote them.”