Mimi laid the box in the bench and opened it carefully. Inside were rows and rows of coloured pastels that shimmered in the light. She rolled them under her fingertips and her imagination began to fill with amazing pictures.

When Mimi is given a box of magical pastels, she discovers that she can draw the Garden of Empress Cassia – a drawing so beautiful and real that people are transported inside it. But the pastels are ancient, mysterious and powerful, and in the wrong hands can be very dangerous . . .

The Garden of Empress Cassia is loosely based on my childhood. Like Mimi, I lived on top of a shop and loved to draw. And like Mimi, I felt ashamed of being Chinese.

The idea for the book started out as a dream. When I woke up I wrote my dream down and as I wrote, memories of my childhood came flooding back to me. I remembered my mother’s gold lacquer box where she used to keep her pearls, and I remembered the shop we used to live in, filled with fascinating things from China – finely embroidered white handkerchiefs, miniature carved cork landscapes, embroidered slippers, laughing Buddhas. In between customers, my mother would sit in the corner, the gold lacquer box the size of a biscuit tin on her lap, threading pearls to make necklaces. It was a very clever box. The wooden walls slid in and out of each other so that you could make the compartments any size you wanted. One compartment held glistening white pearls, another fine silk thread, and another, little gold coils for attaching the clasps. On the lid of the box was carved a lake with willows, bridges and pavilions. For me it was a magic box.

The possibility of being transported inside a picture came to me one stormy evening when I was nineteen. I had just finished a day at art school and was invited to stay the weekend at a friend’s holiday house near Wilson’s Promontory. She was already there, so I had to make the two-hour journey alone. By the time I arrived, it was dark and pouring with rain.

The house was at the end of a muddy road surrounded by dense scrub. There was a note pinned to the front door: Gone to the store. Back in 5 minutes. I let myself in and sat down at the kitchen table tapping my fingers while I gazed at a rather pleasant painting on the wall. The scene was an English cottage with a kindly lady standing at the gate waving. But as I stared at the picture, I felt strangely drawn to it.

I stood up to take a closer look when suddenly I realised it was me the lady was waving at and she was inviting me to be in the picture with her! I felt that all I had to do was to let my mind go. Realising the danger, I quickly turned away. I have never forgotten that strange night which still leaves me with a cold shiver.

• Aurealis Award 2002 Winner Best Children’s Long Fictio
• Children’s Book Council of the Year Awards 2003 – Notable Book
• QLD Premiers Literary Awards 2003 – Shortlisted Best Children’s Book
• W.A. Young Readers Book Award (WAYRA) 2004 Young Reader Shortlisted
• Family Therapist Award for Children’s Books 2002 Shortlisted
• AUREALIS AWARD WINNER BEST CHILDREN’S LONG FICTION 2002
• CBCA NOTABLE BOOK 2003
• SHORTLISTED QUEENSLAND PREMIERS LITERARY AWARDS 2003
• SHORTLISTED W.A. YOUNG READERS BOOK AWARD 2004
• SHORTLISTED FAMILY THERAPIST AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS 2002