Years ago I spent a week at a house on a big lake up in Maine. There was a cat who lived there named Magic, and one morning we saw him sitting at the door looking out at the lake. My wife said, “Magic is contemplating his next move.” I loved that line, and thought it would be a good start to a book. When I returned to California I found a big cat to sketch. Not big. Immense. His name was Orangey, and according to his owner’s vet he was the largest cat in Alameda County. He weighed thirty-four pounds. So I drew him, and drew on memories of the lake in Maine, and thought about what a cat would think while sitting in a doorway. I like the idea that imagining can be its own adventure.
