Castle Waiting tells the story of an isolated, abandoned castle and its eccentric inhabitants. Medley illustrates
Castle Waiting in a style reminiscent of the work of
Arthur Rackham and
William Heath Robinson. Medley conceived of
Castle Waiting in 1984, when she was studying folklore and children's book illustration in college. Intending to do her own take on some of
Grimm's fairy tales, Medley found herself most interested in the unexplained pasts—and their often unresolved fates—of the tales' background characters. The first
Castle Waiting publication was
Castle Waiting: The Curse of Brambly Hedge, which was self-published by Medley with a 1996 grant from the
Xeric Foundation. Medley self-published seven issues of an ongoing
Castle Waiting series in 1997–98. In 1999, Medley self-published a
Castle Waiting hiatus issue.
Jeff Smith's
Cartoon Books started publishing
Castle Waiting (volume two; 4 issues) in 2000. In 2001, Medley went back to self-publishing and put out five more issues of the title. In 2006,
Fantagraphics Books began publishing
Castle Waiting, and as of April 2009, fifteen new issues have been published by them. Medley is currently working on a series of nine graphic novels based on
L. Frank Baum's
Wizard of Oz books. == Awards ==