Grin Investigates Unanswered Questions of Alice

In our backyard a local author is diving in to question the specifics of Alice in Wonderland. With his book written all he needs is the financial support to self-publish.

Adam Danielski, 33, wrote Grin – The Unauthorized Biography of a Cheshire Cat. After reading Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland he was left with unanswered questions.

 “I’ve always wondered Where do these characters come from? What is their back story?”

In 10 days Danielski has raised $2,159 through his online Kickstarter campaign. His goal is to raise $7,000 by September 9 to cover editing and pre-publishing costs before publishing the book on lulu.com.

He noticed the focus on the Cheshire cat in Carroll’s book and wanted to investigate what was driving the Cheshire cat to always have a grin fixed to his face.

In Grin Danielski answers questions that are left unanswered at the end of Alice in Wonderland. Where did the Cheshire cat come from? How did he get his ability to disappear and reappear? Why does he hold a grudge against Alice? Why can the animals talk?

Using Watsonville's Second Street Café as his working space, Danielski drew inspiration from his surroundings by incorporating the architecture of the city. When describing towns and buildings, he used the City Hall and the Courthouse as models.

With Alice in Wonderland as his source of inspiration, Danielski researched the characters’ lives and gave them a life of their own in Grin.

“A lot of people are going to be pleasantly surprised by how I’ve created new interesting characters to that world,” he said. “I wanted there to be an air of originality.”

In addition to drawing inspiration from Lewis Carroll, Danielski references Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre when the Cheshire cat appears as a librarian. That scene gives a good idea of how the cat comes into existence and enters wonderland.

“When I started this book, I realized that every book is linked with another book,” said Danielski.

Carroll inspired the plot of Grin as well as the writing style that Danielski emulates. He described the style as playful, colorful and imaginative.

If he had the opportunity to meet Carroll, Danielski said, “I would probably ask him what drug he was on when he wrote it.” Taking a serious note, he said, “I would ask him what his connection with mathematics was.”

While many novels end with a mystery to be carried into the sequel, Danielski said his book is going to leave the reader with a feeling of satisfaction in having his questions answered.

He said, “It’s not going to be a mystery that I’m going to drag out.”

In the second book of the series Danielski will delve into the relationship between Alice and the Cheshire cat.

Ever since he read Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea in middle school, Danielski has considered himself a writer.

“It inspired me to want to grow up and write classic literature,” he said. “I wanted to be like Ernest Hemingway.”

Since then Danielski has written in various forms including research papers, law documents, shorts stories and articles for websites.

Danielski said that his teachers often told him his research papers sounded more like a story. Grin is the first work that he is bringing into novel form.

To support Danielski, visit his Kickstarter campaign and make a contribution.