There is something about caves and caverns that I find both terrifying and intriguing. There is, of course, my claustrophobia that comes with caves,  but there’s also a sense of mystery deep in the belly of the earth. I enjoy drawing caves, and apparently I enjoy putting my characters in caves.

     Above is a scene from my book, The Pirates of Piddleton (2007). Smoog and Misabelle have just found the pirates’ treasure inside a cave, a cave that was hidden by a rockslide. The pirates’ map is accurate enough, but the changed landscape misled them.

     Here’s a cavern discovered by Philo and Mim Mim in Smoog and the Eye of the Trillagryyn (2005).  The pictures below are all set inside the labyrinths of this cave. The two of them spend several days underground before finding their way out, but as the last illustration shows, Philo has been left behind; A rope from a stranger was let down for Mim Mim, but pulled away from Philo’s grasp, leaving him stuck inside the cave.