Because she felt guilty about taking her kitten to be 'done', Moira Bates distracted herself by scribbling down cat-friendly justifications and explanations on bits of paper and the backs of envelopes (literally ). She did not know that those ideas would take on their own momentum.

She had no intention of starting anything. Then she had no intention of stopping, because as the kitten characters emerged and the story unfolded, she was having fun and enjoying herself far too much to want to leave the St. Catte's Academy world

She had no intention of drawing cat pictures,...