The Man in the Moon was James Blaylock’s first completed novel, however it remained unpublished for decades (having been rewritten and published long before as The Elfin Ship). It was meant to be the first of fantasy series about a world peopled by elves, dwarves, goblins, and normal people, as well as a smattering of wizards, witches, and other fanciful beings. Written and submitted about 1978, it was rewritten and the second half expanded following the comments accompanying the rejection by editor Lester Del Rey. Del Rey published the reworked version. According to Blaylock, The Man in the Moon was influenced almost entirely by Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 children's book The Wind in the Willows, along with Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Brownies and the Goblins, and illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Source: Wikipedia (en)