Kondo was big. Kezumi was little. They came to me in a dream, and possibly the only reason their story was ever written was that my cat woke me up before I found out who they were or what they wanted. All I had an image of a big creature and a little one looking at the ocean (And a cat who wanted ear scritches).
I also had a big opening in my writing schedule. I'd finished the Ginny Goblin books and it was time for something new. So I sat down with my inspiration and tried to turn it into a story.
At first, I thought it would be another picture book, but I pretty quickly realized Kondo and Kezumi were going to need more space than that. They were looking out at the ocean. Why? Because they wondered what was out there, I decided. So they were going to build a boat and go exploring. And that’s not really something you can do in 600 words.