Where do my stories come from?

Honestly, my stories come from everywhere. Sometimes I even surprise myself on how I come up with ideas. I’ve thought up some of my stories through dreams, shapes I find in the clouds & shadows, when I reimagine books and movies, and quite a lot from daydreaming on long drives that I’ve been invited on. Just recently I thought up my “Lolanna” story as I starred out the passenger’s window and started daydreaming how it would feel like to fly up and around the mountain’s sides and the viewpoint of the character as the they soared through the clouds. I even started to imagine their journey and facial expressions in motion, almost how you would see a scene of a character in a film, and that bloomed into my story as I continued their journey as I drove through the mountain scenery.

Who knows, maybe driving through mountain scenery gives me a creativity superpower.

But no matter what, I make sure to write them into my idea journal. 50+ stories and I’m still going strong. And I always try and revisit my stories to improve them or to create new angles in which the story can go. It’s something I cannot seem to stop, but it’s something that I wouldn’t want to stop either.

Where do my characters come from?

People!: my friends, family, and coworkers.

I love incorporating people I know into my stories (and so do they!). And by merging the characteristics of the people I know into my stories, it brings my characters to life, effortlessly, due to their own quirks and personalities that make them memorable. Their temperaments can be funny, their confusion to situations can bring out great points, and their type of bravery makes them kind. They’re real and relatable.

And since I love imitating their characteristics, I don’t even want to change their appearances either. Their hairstyles, their freckles and their button noses are all what makes them memorable and compliments their personalities so well. So, I try and keep as much of their appearances as I can while I create the characters. They are all so perfectly imperfect, I can’t be happier with how they turned out.

Why do I create stories for children?

I’ve always wanted to create worlds and adventures that could possibly stick with someone for their entire life. And it would be an amazing feeling to create that inspirational story that opened up a new perspective for a child due to a character or a plot. There is just something so heartwarming to see that you brought happiness and inspiration to a little one or even maybe created a story that they needed to hear to grow and accept who they truly are. So, for me, being able to write and illustrate stories for children is nothing short of a gift. And that is why I love to create stories for children.

My hope then, is to show that every child can have a chance to do anything they want and to bring out the courage in themselves to continue being themselves- with adventures that show flawed characters, growth and female characters that are their own heroes.

It’s a big feat, but that is what inspired me when I was little and that is what I wish to continue to create for children to come.