I approached the writing of my story for Fables #100 with considerable trepidation.

I had, more by accident than design, written a strip for House of Mystery a year earlier, to which Bill Willingham had added the finishing touches, but this would be my first time writing solo for DC. Add to that the fact that I hadn't written prose professionally before and, as you can imagine, the whole thing felt pretty daunting.

My initial plan had been to create an Agatha Christie style mystery but, as I began to write, it soon became apparent that it would be too complex a tale to fit in just a few pages.

I eventually found the subject for the story, a tale of Pinocchio and Geppetto, amongst a collection of plot ideas for the regular series I had sent to Bill and editor Shelly Bond a year earlier. It had an ending that had always existed crystal clear in my mind. So I unashamedly stole it back and with it found the confidence I needed to write.

I must admit I was nervous as to what Bill and Shelly would think of my story. It was a huge honor to be allowed the opportunity to write for Fables and I didn’t want to disappoint.

Shelly was delighted and invested a lot of time in helping me refine it. Thankfully Bill not only liked it but responded with a fantastic set of illustrations. His full page splash of Geppetto is my favorite, perfectly capturing the pivitol moment in the tale. It was an incredible experience and a joy to see Bill bring my words to life.

Mark Buckingham