19. How Idea Seeds Grow Into Books

In bits and pieces, over a long time

My book A COZY WINTER DAY released today, and I’m feeling all happy and gooey about it. I love taking time around release day to reflect on the journey it took; from the little disparate idea seeds to becoming a real-life thing that readers hold in their hands and (hopefully) fall in love with. I’m sharing pieces of the journey here, from as far back as I can trace them. I hope it will be interesting to see how the book grew from seeds, to sprout, to seedling, to sapling, to a fully grown book tree in the span of one post!

EARLY IDEA SEEDS

The things 4-year old Eliza loved - The busy worlds of Richard Scarry books, an obsession with the idea of living in trees like Pooh Bear and the Berenstain Bears, and feeling a visceral desire to crawl inside dollhouses, Kuckoo clocks, and picture books.

The seasons - Growing up in Northern Wisconsin seasonal living is a big thing; taking advantage of good weather days, gathering with family for seasonal events & holidays, and most importantly, the thrill of school being cancelled for a SNOW DAY!

IDEA DORMANCY

As far back as I can remember, I wanted to create my own little world of animal characters–I sketched cozy little houses, animals in sweaters, their belongings–but didn’t have a theme to center my ideas around. Something was missing; a beating heart to the story world . . .

So I left the ideas to gestate, and worked on other stories with similar themes–seasonal living, family togetherness, and a tiny person living in a tree–for ‘Miss Maple’s Seeds’ and ‘Home in the Woods’.

THE IDEA SPROUTS

In 2016 a book called ‘The Little Book of Hygge’ by Meik Wiking came out about the Danish concept of feelings of comfort and well-being. ‘Cozy’ is our closest word in English. Since my teen years I’ve been managing chronic pain from a genetic condition called Fabry Disease, and my need for external comfort is higher than “normal”. Coziness, for me, is about intentionally creating an environment and experience of goodness, sensory comfort, and enjoyment.

Resting outside on a pain day, The Book of Hygge, My picnicking Scandi ancectors

The Danish concepts of ‘hygge’, and ‘lykke’ (enjoyment) led me to also connect with my Scandinavian heritage – finding words like ‘fika’ (a coffee & snack break), ‘lagom’ (just right), and ‘koselig’ (cozy togetherness, esp. in long winter months).

SPROUT TO SEEDLING

Centering the heart of my magical animal world around these themes was the ‘beating heart’ I needed to move forward with creating the story world. And it couldn’t just be one book, it had to be a series! Basking in a full seasonal day for each book…Yes.

I created a pitch, which included the manuscript for ‘A Cozy Winter Day’, a summary of the series, my inspirations, sample art, and character sketches.

FROM SPROUT TO SAPLING

I was so lucky that the team at Nancy Paulsen/Penguin Books, who worked with me to create ‘Miss Maple’s Seeds’ and ‘Home in the Woods’, wanted to make this series too!

We worked for many months back and forth on the text, sketches, layouts, and book flow. Then I holed myself up for another 6 months to work on the artwork.

Working at my desk, And on the iPad to the customary Jane Austen Book Deadline Marathon

A FULL-GROWN TREE!

When the art is finished, I hand it off to the publishing team for design, copy-editing, printing, binding, sales, marketing, publicity…it’s in this process for almost a year before being ready for the market. It takes a village to make a book!

READY TO GROW NEW SEEDS

This is the part I care about the most…when the child reader holds the book in their hands, and (I hope!) falls in love with it. From 4-year old me to 4-year old them…isn’t that just about the coolest thing you can think of?

💛 Special thanks to my book-making team: Jen Rofe, Nancy Paulsen, Cecilia Yung, Nicole Rheingans, Sara LaFleur and Co. at Penguin Books; for your time, creative thought, and resources to make…A COZY WINTER DAY. 💛

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