(by Tony D.)

     Human life is somewhat based on pairs. We have two eyes, two legs, two arms, etc. For the alien life in “Jimmy Zangwow,” I used threes. The Mars Men have three arms, as does the Grimble, and he also has three eyes.

     I would have to say the Grimble Grinder was second to Jimmy as far as challenging design.
     After changing the Zibble Zowell to the Grimble Grinder, I felt the words warranted a different physical design. His name felt big and heavy.
     Logic (and Angela) pointed out that a beast that lived to eat, would be all mouth and stomach, so that’s where I began. But it was tough.
     Tangent here: my little moral of this book was “Don’t judge by looks” and “Don’t listen to what everyone says—make your own discoveries and decisions.” To do that, I needed the readers to see the Grimble as much a threat as the Mars Men, but also to see the lovable creature Jimmy saw. This was a tough order to fill!

     So, he went from being kinda scary to being too cute. I went back and forth until I got him just where I wanted.
     To get there, I tapped into some masters of “weird character” design. Jim Henson’s muppets, and Dr. Suess’ characters all had this neutral look to them. You couldn’t tell if the thing was gonna eat your dog, or invite you in for tea.
     In the end, the Grimble is the most endearing to me. You finish the story wanting more of him, and I like that. It’s like making a new friend, you can’t wait to do all kinds of great things together.