How did you come up with the idea to use a garden as a spy network in Westmark?
It was an idea that suddenly just came into my mind. I’m thankful it did, because it was the kind of lucky idea that you can’t think of ahead of time. Call it a lucky accident. Did you think of Mickle being the princess in Westmark when you started writing the book, or did it just fall into place? I thought of Mickle as the princess from the very beginning. I had planned out Westmark, The Kestrel, and The Beggar Queen pretty clearly in my mind before I actually started writing. How did you come up with the idea for Time Cat? One of my cats gave me the idea. It’s a true story. One of my cats, his name was Solomon, used to come and visit me in my workroom. I never actually saw him come into the room. Suddenly, there he was. So, we had a nice conversation. I told him how well his whiskers and tail were looking. Then I turned back to my worktable, and he would be gone. I never actually saw him get up and leave. So I began to have a private joke, playing a game as it were, pretending that h
