Magination Press's new book, Band Together, tells the story of a musical, but loner duck, and a travelling band in need of some back-up. It explores friendship and the process, and rewards, of stepping out of one's comfort zone. Magination Press interviewed Band Together's author and illustrator about creating the book. Magination Press: What inspired you to write Band Together? Chloe Douglass:  I think what inspired me to write the book is how music can be a universal communicator to bring us all together. Music has had a big influence in my life so naturally, I think I fell to this idea early on in my story writing process: this was how my main character was going to tackle his problem.  MP: What is Band Together about?  CD: Band Together is about Duck, who has lived on his own for so long, he has forgotten how and gotten a little bit scared to make new friends. It’s all a bit overwhelming. One day a band: Bear, Fox, and Seagull, break down on the beach where he lives and he ends up being roped into helping them before he can think of saying no. They end up having a jam with their instruments and have a great time. Duck thinks about asking them if they would play with him the next day but he puts himself down, overthinks it and can’t go through with it. Seagull gets sick and throws the concert into jeopardy, but Bear knows just who to ask to fill in. It’s up to Duck to drum up the courage and help out his new potential friends.  MP: This was the first book you both wrote and illustrated. What was that like? How was it different from illustrating another author’s work?  CD: Writing and illustrating your own book is different in a way as you’re much more attached to the text and the story. Working with an editor, changing and tweaking bits, was a new experience and one that I loved, as it makes the finished story the best it can be.  Different versions of Band Together The book also goes through a lot of different versions before it gets help with an editor. I have lost count of how many versions of the story there have been!  When working on the final stage it felt easier to get roughs drawn fairly quickly and onto the finals, because I have had the story and characters in my mind’s eye for so long. Whereas illustrating for an author, you have to spend time getting to know the character/s, doing lots of sketches and roughs to get them right, and working on lots of different layouts before settling on the right one to help tell the story.  MP: What was unexpected about creating this book? CD: I think the biggest unexpected thing was having to change the title once it had gone to print. The book title was originally a lyric from a favorite band of mine, but