Introduction

Thanks for your help! These are the ideas that have been incubating in my head for some time. On each idea, I will try to make it so that you can just skim through and read in bold if you are short on time & can only respond with quick comments. For those of you that want more information, I will fill you in on each idea as much as I can.

I have neuro-divergent issues that make it hard for me to think clearly, but as I add up all of your thoughts, I think it will help to clarify what my focus for the near future should be. I have thick skin, so feel free to say what you need to say about these ideas of mine. I appreciate any time you take with this, and I value what you think! Even if you don’t have time to finesse a response! 

Btw, recent kid books & GN I've enjoyed or am currently enjoying are:

• DONUT FEED THE SQUIRRELS

• OWLY: THE WAY HOME

• TRICKY VIC

• MOST OF THE BETTER NATURAL THINGS IN THE WORLD

• STARGAZING

• BLANKETS

• NARWHAL: UNICORN OF THE SEA

• ON A MAGICAL DO-NOTHING DAY

• I WAS THEIR AMERICAN DREAM

• BLOOM

• I AM ALFONSO JONES

Project ideas #1 - #3 are each stories that come in a pair, ones that show alternate viewpoints. I’m interested in presenting a full story from the perspective of one character, then in the same book, switching to tell the story from another character’s perspective. I’m interested in the way this can illuminate “Theory of Mind” in which we learn that other people have a whole separate way of seeing things than we do ourselves, and how communication is about bridging that divide. This has been a central interest in my work as an artist, and I'm now bringing this to books.

Also FYI- I haven’t decided the type of character, i.e. human characters, animal characters, or made-up-being characters, for project ideas #1 - #3. 

Project idea #4 is poetic/pictorial, and 

Project idea #5 is non-fiction. 

(#6 is my longer WIP novel.)

The deep dive stuff & info on project idea #6 is for those for have time to explore further. :)

Short Synopsis of Feedback Request

I’m in the very beginning stages of capturing my ideas, with hopes of developing the strong ones and culling the weak ones with your help. The vague description (and amount completed) for these ideas are:

#1- a rivalry between a new (aloof) girl and a kid who feels threatened (lots of loose notes)

#2- a super imaginative kid who wants to be noticed by someone he looks up to (a very rough PB draft, finished)

#3- a kid who shows concern for her town and questions the status quo when the adults don’t seem to care (some loose notes)

#4- a non-fiction book that springs from the idea of the title being “Body of Water” (a loose note or three)

#5- a poetic picturesque book about floating as an escape from a busy frenetic world (a picture and feeling in my mind)

I wonder:

• Which of these ideas are compelling and might have the most traction in the marketplace?

• Do any of these ideas seem better suited to one format than another? (See the individual ideas for what I’m asking about this)

• Any advice for me from those of you who juggle multiple projects? :)

Deep-Dive

Here’s my studio artist statement, which can maybe give you a general sense of what I like to do in my projects. “I think a lot about social structures and the internal emotional landscapes of the people that make up those structures. I make art as a way to disentangle how people relate to each other.” The concentration for my Fine Art BFA was “New Genres” which is super open-ended, meaning... I choose the media for my projects based on what I’m trying to do or communicate. So… I make lots of different kinds of art. I’ve always loved written expression as well as working with the visual, though. For some reason, it’s taken me what feels like a zillion years to figure out how to make books that combine writing and art for what I’m trying to do. About two years ago I started to hone my illustration skills, with children’s books being my aim. I’ve taken picture book illustration classes as well as ones on editorial illustration. I published my first comic last year and I started to see that my “big book project” (see #6 below) might actually work as a YA graphics novel. Then I came to the Kids Comics Insider community after joining KCU. Full disclosure, I’m exploring hybrid graphics novel formats and illustrated books in addition to the classic graphic novel. (If you want to scuba-dive deeper into my work, it might be helpful to look at my series called It's Personal or the one called I Will Find after reading through these ideas, to get a sense of my long-term interest in how people relate to each other.)

Although I’m sticking with my big book project for the long term, it’s dawned on me that it’ll take some years to make it happen, so… :) I want to get some additional work done in the meantime.

Project Ideas

Project idea #1.

A story about suspicion and misunderstanding, a rivalry story where both want respect but they both define it differently.

1a. When Mimi learns about new kid Yoyo, she expects to meet someone who’s eager to make friends. But Yoyo does her own thing and doesn’t seem in a rush to hang out. Mimi’s got to investigate. Because if Mimi can’t make sense of Yoyo, she’s not sure anyone should. 

1b. Yoyo is new in town, but neighbor Mimi seems to think she doesn’t belong. Sure, Yoyo likes people. Mostly, though, she just wants to be free to do what she loves. When Mimi starts to be suspicious of what she’s up to, Yoyo worries she’ll have to give up being true to herself in order to make peace.

More info: 

- This is the concept I’ve worked with the longest, but I’m not done distilling it into a specific plot for kids. 

- I’m not sure what the thing is that is Yoyo’s “own thing” or “what she loves”, that’s why it’s still vague there

- If I use a contest (such as “The Local Library’s Maker Contest”) as a plot device, I think it skews more MG GN. 

- If I can really simplify to the heart of the matter, I think maybe I can create an early reader out of it?

- If I step-up the maturity and reader skill in this book, I wonder if it would work as an illustrated book like TRICKY VIC by Greg Pizzoli? 

Project idea #2.

A story about an easy-to-overlook person (Sparkle*) trying to be friends with an admired person (Reina). It’s also about seeing a need for friendship. It’s a platonic love story. 

2a. When Sparkle sees Reina hard at work on an important project, he realizes it’s finally time to step up and help out, no matter if he doesn’t know the perfect thing to do. Now maybe he’ll finally get her attention and she can see the dynamic duo they’re meant to be and how real a friend he is.

2b. Reina’s been hard at work for days, but things keep getting moved around and messed up. If she doesn’t figure out how to finish by tomorrow, she’s going to have to wait until she comes back to Abuelita’s next summer. What she really needs— and wants!— is someone to help.

More info: 

- I have a picture book manuscript for an early draft of this story, but I don’t like it. I think it can be changed into an early reader GN or middle grade GN. 

- Or should it stay a PB?

- I haven’t come up with what Reina’s big project would be. It seems too simplistic to be just “a sculpture” or “painting a mural on the wall”. I think it needs to be a project that serves a greater purpose… maybe installing a drip-line to water her grandma’s garden? (that just now popped in my head as I’m typing.)

- Reina will be 10-ish, and Sparkle 6-ish.

- My *Sparkle character idea is that the easy-to-overlook MC will at first present as an imaginary friend (like the character in BEEKLE) who’s waiting to get picked by their favorite kid (in this case, Reina). But the gradual reveal would be that the character who wants to befriend Reina is actually her little brother, who she hasn’t taken seriously as a real possible friend. 

- By the way, he’s called Sparkle by his sister Reina, but his “real” name is Parker. Sparkle will be what she called him when she couldn’t say his name correctly when she was younger. 

Project idea #3.

A story about a place that’s been defined by incomplete stories and what the people who live there do about it.  

3a. Riley discovers that everything she knows about the place she loves has been told through incomplete stories, and she’s determined to discover what went wrong and why.

3b. Sookie loves her town, and when questions start to come up to make people doubt the goodness of the place she loves, she’s determined to find out who’s causing trouble and to find a way to make it stop.

3c, etc… I wonder if there could be even more separate character story perspectives?

More info: 

- I haven’t written this story out.

- This idea comes as a result of me trying to come up with a kids’ version for sharing my interest in dissecting the role that storytellers play in cultural and national identities. 

- I’m drawn to the early reader format because I’m excited to work this idea out in a way that is very simple but still super deep. 

- a note that applies to all my interest in writing early readers is that, I’ve learned that when older immigrant kids come to the U.S. and are learning to speak/read English, there’s a need for them to have access to simple stories that can still stimulate them intellectually :) :) 

- Not that I want to shy away from humor or aiming to interest little kids!, but I’m hoping for several layers of understanding in a simple manuscript… if it’s possible! I’d love suggestions of any books that are like this :)

Project idea #4.

A poetic/pictorial idea: I’ve been thinking about the sensation of floating (water, space, meditation?). I think I can explore it with pictures/words, and I think I can make it into a kind of poetic narrative. I want to contrast that sensation with the frenetic world, so that floating is a kind of escape. :)

More info: 

- What you’ve read above is about all I have on this idea haha

- oh and I have a lot of legit feels when I think about floating :) :)  

Project idea #5.

A non-fiction idea: the notion of “Body of Water” got in my head about the same time as “floating.” This one would maybe also be poetic/pictorial, but the basis would be more non-fiction. I’m thinking about how the human body is made up of water as the main ingredient, about bodies of water in nature (lakes, oceans, puddles), how water moves through the earth and is also a part of us. I think I can create narrative drama by contrasting water with what happens when it dries out. 

More info: 

- I love non-fiction stuff

- Again, I love TRICKY VIC by Greg Pizzoli as a mentor text for this

- I also love the beautiful picture book MOST OF THE BETTER NATURAL THINGS IN THE WORLD by Dave Eggers and Angel Chang. 

Project Idea #6

I welcome any comments on the big long-term I’m sharing here, but my main need is to know if any of the #1 - #5 project ideas above have enough traction to develop into a compelling kid book project :) 

Project idea #6. My long-term long-novel idea: It’s a story with a 17 year old protagonist who slowly comes to the realization that she has the ability to know her own future. The book is narrated by that future self. She tells about how she had to come to terms with who thought she was (based on the stories inherited from her Mexican-American mom and Korean-American dad, her Mexican Abuelita, and her Korean Halmoni) and who she turns out to be. 

I think (maybe? hopefully?) this is the big project I’m *meant* to do, if that’s even a thing! For so much of my artist life, as well as my life as a super interested lay reader, I’ve been interested in ideas about what makes us who we are as people— both individually and collectively. The more I learn about American history (and what I’ve learned about subjugated peoples in other nations as well), I’ve gotten interested in the role that storytellers play in cultural and national identities, and how that's affected the way people treat each other. I’m interested in the myth-making that props up bad behaviors, how trauma stymies people’s development, and how intrafamilial stories are passed down. 

More info: 

- I have over 50K unorganized words for this project and 

- I have a general feeling of what I want it to look like :) 

- the 50K words are even more random than you think

- I have a lot of work to do on this :) :) 

Thx for reading!

Please leave comments/questions in the thread on KCU Insider (or you can DM me if needed!), which I’ll link up here once I have the URL. :)

Luv,

Maritza