So… How Did a Little Panda Named Ziggy Start All This?

I wish I could tell you The Bamboo Chronicles began with a brilliant plan, a perfectly organized notebook, and a detailed map of exactly where the story was going.

It didn’t. 😂

It started with a panda.

And, like most things involving Ziggy, it got a little out of hand.

The funny part is that Ziggy didn’t even begin as a book character.

I was playing Whiteout Survival, and a friend of mine had a panda avatar. I remember looking at it and saying something along the lines of, “Hey, I have a panda!”

And I did.

His name was Ziggy.

At the time, that was pretty much the whole story. There was no Citadel, no Twilight Express, no Barnaby, no Scribble, and definitely no Bamboo Corner.

Just a panda named Ziggy.

I had absolutely no idea what I had just started. 😂

And then Ziggy started becoming more than just a name.

One idea led to another. A little panda needed somewhere to go, so he got a world. Then apparently he needed friends. Then those friends needed adventures. Before I knew it, there were glowing maps, mysterious railways, hidden doorways, an enormous teddy bear named Barnaby, an origami troublemaker named Scribble, and enough imagination running loose to require adult supervision.

Which, as it turns out, was supposed to be me. 😂

Somewhere along the way, Ziggy stopped feeling like a character I was creating and started feeling like a little panda who already knew exactly who he was. I was just trying to keep up with him.

One book became The Bamboo Chronicles. The characters began finding their own voices. The Citadel got bigger. Ziggy wandered onto a website, then Instagram and TikTok, and apparently decided he needed merchandise too.

Yesterday, we opened Bamboo Corner.

I’m still trying to process that sentence. 😂

What started with one little panda has become books, characters, artwork, a growing community, and an actual shop filled with pieces of Ziggy’s world.

Was any of this part of the original plan?

Absolutely not.

There was no original plan.

There was a panda.

And honestly, I think that makes the whole thing even better.

So that’s how we got here.

And if you’re new to The Bamboo Chronicles, welcome. 💙

This blog won’t be a place for stiff announcements or perfectly polished little updates. I want it to be where I share what happens behind the pages, the ideas that work, the ones that go completely sideways, new characters and adventures, peeks at what I’m creating, and probably more than a few stories about Ziggy getting himself into trouble.

Because if I’ve learned anything since that little panda wandered into my imagination, it’s this:

You never really know where one small idea might take you.

Sometimes you just have to follow it.

Even when it’s a panda. 🐼

Welcome to our little corner of the bamboo.