I wish both Rachael and Alyssa nothing but the best of luck with their book Before the Sun Wakes Up. Check out the interview I recently had regarding the book.
1. Where did the idea for Before the Sun Wakes Up come from?
I decided on a whim that I would write a children’s book, and I did. I started brainstorming what types of topics engage young children, and I think children are fascinated by the natural world. I wanted to write about nature in a way young children could understand, putting the world into their language. I loved the idea of the sun waking up while the moon went to sleep, and from there, Before the Sun Wakes Up was born.
2. What inspired you to write a children's book?
My youngest sister is sixteen years younger than me, and I spent one day a week home with her over the summer. I’ve always loved to read, and I wanted to share my love of books with her, so I would read stories to her as much as she would let me. One day, I picked up one of her stories, and I told myself there was no reason I couldn’t write one. So I did.
3. How did you come up with the "acceptance and equality in the minds of young children, to assure all children have a place in this world" concept for the book?
The narrative of the story is a simple poem, geared toward children three and younger. My partner and illustrator, Alyssa Minko, noticed that its simplicity presented the perfect opportunity to use the illustrations to promote a much deeper meaning in an implicit fashion. As advocates of social equality, we share the desire to use our work to help achieve true equality for all people, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, or anything else. While our book does not explicitly deal with specific social topics, we decided we wanted to create a book that could encapsulate a multitude of human experiences, so that any child could pick up this book, and feel themselves to be represented in its illustrations. Our goal is to create a new kind of children’s literature, in which every child that reads our book can be represented and identified in some way.
3. Will this become a series or is it going to be a stand-alone?
This book will be a stand-alone. Alyssa and I have discussed the possibilities of working together again in the future on other projects, so there is always the potential for more, depending on what the future brings.
4. The artwork is gorgeous - How did you go through the process of finding an illustrator?
Alyssa and I were close friends throughout middle school and high school. We reconnected last year, and she mentioned that she had always wanted to get into illustrating children’s books. Things fell into place pretty naturally from there. Immediately after I wrote the first draft of the narrative, I texted Alyssa and asked if she would embark on this project with me. Alyssa was the obvious choice, and I couldn’t imagine working on this with anyone else.
5. Did you give your illustrator instructions on how you wanted the pictures to look, or did you give them free-reign?
I am a visual artist by no means. I had a faint idea of how I wanted certain aspects of the illustrations to look, which I told Alyssa. From there, she took my ideas and made them into beautiful images that are so much more than anything I could have ever conceived on my own. Alyssa typically sends me drafts of the artwork in stages, and we collaborate to ensure that the artwork effectively complements the narrative, and that it conveys our messages of acceptance and representation.
6. When will the book be released? Where can we find out information about the book/future projects/etc.?
Before the Sun Wakes Up will be
available on Amazon and online at Barnes & Noble as of April 6th. Customers
can directly contact me at btswu.author@gmail.com, or Alyssa Minko at
btswu.art@gmail.com to order their own copies throughout April. We are also
available on Facebook at Before the Sun Wakes Up, and on Instagram at
@beforethesunwakesup. You can find more information and updates on www.beforethesunwakesup.com
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