Some authors work through organized outlines, notes, rather involved research.  For me, I sat at the computer and suddenly the story just flowed out.  Now, I'm more prone to do the research and I do the notes but not outlines.  Perhaps that is just my method, perhaps I'm just that way.    

As you read my books, you'll find letters that give insight into my motivation but also my thinking.  For example, I started "And The Mist Was on The Mountain" first, then just had an itch to write about the old west.