Hello all and happy Friday!!! Wow, it's August already...which means the changing of leaves into those beautiful fall colours and feeling summer cool away. I can't believe how the year is now at halfway point...it's all going by so quickly.
Anyway, remember awhile ago I was talking about working on a middle grade novel? Well, I still am. I've been drowning in research for it for almost eight months now and it's still growing. I'm still developing the plot and subplots, characters, backgrounds, settings and mythical creatures for the book. I still want to do a blog about it, which I thought I would have up this past April, but as it turns out...I wasn't ready for that just yet. I want to make sure I know the In's and outs of my story fully before posting about it.
For now, I bring you my lead character: Sandy. She's just turned ten years old and is a sweet, rambunctious and imaginative young lass. She's from the town of Bagshot in England, and lives during the Edwardian Period. (If you're thinking that the town of Bagshot sounds familiar....you're right! It's my tiny salute to J.K Rowling and the Harry Potter books, which pushed me forward to try writing again.) She loves, sweets, bedtime stories of fairy tales and myths and will spend innumerable hours making up her own fairy lands, imagining all the adventures she'll have there.
I really wanted to get the feel of old style illustrations from that time, so I did a fair amount of research on children's books of the 1900's and found that most young girls were always coloured with very pale to pastel colours, while the backgrounds would be deep and rich. Oddly enough, that would make the central figure stand out. I remember as a kid myself, that I would love to read books with illustrations that were insanely detailed and would stare at them for hours trying to 'see' everything hidden in the picture. So I intend the same this for my book, which I hope will go over, at least, moderately well.
I'll keep you guys posted on the other characters as they become finished. Wishing you a lovely and creative weekend. Cheers and love to you all!
hello,
ReplyDeletei think your main character is wonderful. thank you for explaining the pastel compared to darker background, quite enticing. I wish you the best with this project and look forward to seeing it!!
Sandy is fabulous! I adore your incredible hard work researching for your middle grade novel. It's gonna be a huge accomplishment and I am rooting for you all the way!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are keeping busy!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about your illustrations as the ones you remember as a kid...I'm always enlarging and getting really close to the screen....haha!
Best wishes, Dear Erin!