In 2007, we were some way into writing The New Prophecy when our publisher, HarperCollins, asked for a book to bridge the gap between the first and second series. I always knew that a year had elapsed between the two series, giving Firestar and Sandstorm a chance to settle down and produce Leafkit and Squirrelkit. Now, to our delight, HarperCollins wanted to put out a longer-length stand-alone book that would feature familiar characters in brand-new situations. It would be 120,000 words long, compared to the usual 70,000, and the only limitation was that nothing could happen that would have changed events in The New Prophecy.

I remember having a moment of “Long book—what story—help!” But then it dawned on me that the best way to avoid having too much impact on life in the forest, or creating conflict with the books that had already been written for the second series, was to send some cats away for a period of time to have an adventure far, far away. Some Super Editions (Crookedstar’s Promise, Tallstar’s Revenge) took FOREVER to plan, even though I knew where the story had to start and finish. But to my surprise, Firestar’s Quest fell into my head literally overnight. I went to sleep thinking, “Eek, need super-long story set in new place,” and woke up with the entire plot of Firestar’s Quest, from Firestar receiving the mysterious prophecy about a fifth Clan, to the long journey he and Sandstorm would undertake to find and restore SkyClan. (And yes, I had SkyClan’s name instantly too).

Creating the story line was an absolute joy, the only challenge being having to draw yet another map (art is not my strong point) to make sure the journey to the gorge and back was convincing and consistent. I wanted the SkyClan cats to be distinct from the warriors we had already come to know, so I erased the warrior code and came up with the idea of “daylight warriors,” cats who were living as kittypets but had retained some sense of their wild heritage. Leafstar remains one of my favorite characters because she is so brave, compassionate, and loyal, even though she knows no more about being a warrior than any of her Clanmates do at the start. Echosong will always be special to me because this is my favorite warrior name of all. In fact, I am determined to have a horse named Echosong one day!

Cherith connected instantly with my ideas and hopes for the story, and created a manuscript that was heartfelt, gripping, and honest. And most important, it was long enough! We had so much fun creating the battle with the rats, bringing to life my very strong sense that the rats would move as a single swarm, controlled by a king rat in the center. The result was so ominous, so creepy—one of my proudest fight scenes.

Firestar’s Quest went so smoothly, and was so well received by the fans, that when HarperCollins asked for a second Super Edition in 2008, I very cheerfully agreed. This time, I wanted to venture into ThunderClan’s recent past, specifically the life and times of Bluestar. One of the elements I loved most in the first series was the depiction of an elderly character at the very center of the action. I was able to show her descent into madness and senility as her world came crashing down around her. This was Bluestar, of course, a wise and courageous leader who was haunted by a terrible decision she had made many moons before Into the Wild.

Ever since Book Three of series one, Forest of Secrets, I had known about Bluestar’s deeply hidden personal history, that she had given up her kits to their RiverClan father in order to prevent Thistleclaw from becoming deputy. To me, this was a chance to explore the dilemma faced by many women when they are forced to choose between having a career and staying at home with their children. I know, not a typical subject for a children’s book! But that’s the brilliant thing about Warriors: by using cats as my characters, I can examine the issues that matter most to me—motherhood, religion, politics, bullying, unrequited love—without having to restrict my stories to a grown-up audience. After all, these things matter to young readers too. No one lives in a bubble nowadays, not with twenty-four-hour news and YouTube and instant global media on every conceivable platform.

So, it was with great excitement that I sat down to plan Bluestar’s unique story, from her first battle outside ThunderClan, to the moment she was reunited with her children. And . . . nothing. Total mind blank. I gathered every scrap of information from the existing Warriors books that mentioned Bluestar’s past, which gave me a timeline to follow and a cast of characters that would develop over time. But could I fill in the blanks? No, I could not. Poor Kate Cary waited and waited and waited for the story line, but I was haunted by the Blank Page of Doom, and I started to wonder if this book would ever get written.

To be honest, I can’t remember how I broke free of the mental block. I suspect I lay awake for too many nights with the deadline rushing toward me, and eventually stumbled to my desk in sheer terror to write down something, anything. Bit by bit, I unspooled the story of Bluestar—the loss of her mother, her fear of water, the ramblings of Goosefeather, Thistleclaw’s rise to power, and falling in love with Oakheart of RiverClan. Finally, I had a story line, which Kate seized then wrote like the wind, words upon words upon words. And they were GOOD. When I read the first draft, I knew that this was the best book we would ever create together, my very special magnum opus that contained more of me than any other story could. For a long time, The Darkest Hour was my favourite Warriors book. Since 2008, it has been Bluestar’s Prophecy. And I’m incredibly proud that so many of you name it as your favorite book too. There’s something special about it, that’s for sure.

Many more Super Editions have followed, the last one I created being Bramblestar’s Storm. They always presented a challenge not just because of their length but because the more books that were written, the more background details we had to get right in the new stories. So much potential for errors! As always, any mistakes are entirely mine. Just believe me when I say that I tried SO HARD to match up all the timelines, recall all the character details accurately, and create a convincing new story that would entertain our ever- demanding fans. Every August, the Warriors world expands a little more, surpassing anything I could ever have imagined when I began Firestar’s Quest. I hope you will continue traveling with us beyond the territories, into the past, to the limitless realms of stories about battling feral cats.