The inspiration for Mr. Boonjie & the Moondust Quest took many forms. The genesis came in 2015 when this incredible photo of me and my cat, Winky, was created by my daughter, Cara. I loved the photo so much I used it for my Christmas card, and the story for Mr. Boonjie’s moondust quest took shape.

Cara was experimenting with PicMonkey® — an app for editing and designing personal photos. In October 2015 she created a Halloween scene in a fairy garden bowl which sat on her front step. Being a creative techie, she was able to place a fairy size image of herself amongst the tiny ghosts and pumpkins in the garden bowl.

She suggested we create something similar using my cat, Winky, and shrinking me to appear riding on his back. Easy to get a photo of me pretending to ride an animal; getting the cat to pose in a leap was another thing. After hours of taking pics of him and numerous kitty treats, Cara finally had the right pose. And voila! My Christmas card evolved!  I loved it and was inspired to write this poem to go with it:

 Me and my Cat

This is a tale about

Me and my cat.

You’re probably thinking

What’s new about that?

But did I mention

My cat can fly

With me on his back

Riding high in the sky?

It’s a matter of shrinking

’til I’m just small enough.

He’ll be able to carry me.

My cat’s pretty tough.

And then who knows where we will go

My cat and I.

Or what grand places we will see

Soaring up so high.

Maybe due north

To the tippy top pole

Where Santa hangs out

Making toys for below.

Yes, that will be our very first stop

To tell him we love him and still believe

In goodness and kindness

And earthly reprieve.

My cat, Winky, went to kitty heaven a couple years later. No, it wasn’t from flying too high in the sky. It was just his time to go. But thoughts of flying cats kept swirling in my brain. I would sit and think and visualize and wonder what kind of adventure a flying cat would have. Could he fly? How would he fly? Why would he fly? Well, magic would have to be involved, of course. It wouldn’t be a documentary. It had to be a fairytale. After almost 3 years of writing, deleting, rewriting and rewriting, Mr. Boonjie & the Moondust Quest is ready for readers.