It All Began With

It all began with

a cheeky black-and-white cat

a cafe down a small green lane

the idea of a tall thin house.

A cheeky black-and-white cat

Sylvester was a rescue cat who came to live with me five years ago. I call him my little 'wild cat'. He is mischievous and loves to be outside in all types of weather. He also likes to cuddle up to any other cat who is happy to make way for him in their bed. I thought he would make a great character in a picture book story.

A cafe down a small, green lane

Image source

Before COVID lockdown, there was a cat cafe down a 'small green lane' in Melbourne city. At one point, it was up for sale and I had seriously considered buying it. However, it was not to be, and unfortunately, like many small businesses in Melbourne at that time, it closed down soon after Melbourne opened up again. That was when I first began to think about creating a story about a cat cafe 'down a small green lane'.

The good news is, it seems to have re-opened in another part of the city. I will have to visit soon!

The idea of a tall thin house

Image source

About the same time, I was fascinated by a tall thin terrace house in London. It was only 1.6 meters (5.5 ft) wide and I was amazed at how all the rooms fit together. It even had an outside deck! I thought this would make a quirky building for a cat cafe. However, I soon realised it was too small and had to resize the building in my mind.

My husband is an architect and he drew me a floorplan. Below is my first translation of his plan. Things have changed since then, but I was off to a good start. Now I had a building to visualise as I started to write my story.

The idea grew and grew until it became the story of The BiG Meow Cat Cafe. And yes, the book is coming soon.